Tolerance
by MissDomaYuset
Summary: When Zim learns the truth of his mission, he only learns more lies. Nothing is what it seems, and there is no one you can trust. ZADF character deaths R&R FINISHED
1. Chapter 1

**ZADF needs more love. It is always "I-Love-You-No-I-Love-You" nowadays. But this will have lots of angst and deep questions and junk. Things you expect from ZADR, but without the making out. There will be laughs. There will be tears. There will even be the occasional man-eating beaver. Okay, maybe there won't be a beaver. I ran out of funding.**

**I don't own Invader Zim.**

**Review me or else!**

_'It looked painful.'_

_That was the only thought in my head as I watched Zim drown before my eyes. Why he was in the gym's pool area in the first place was beyond me. But there he was, drowning._

_And I was the only one that could save him. I felt a pang of guilt; something told me I should help him. But I silently argued that it was better this way. It would be easy to prove Zim an alien when dead, rather then alive._

_I watched him scream for help, thrashing in the acidic like liquid. Pieces of his flesh burned away, revealing what seemed to be bone. It was a sick sight._

_'I should help him.'_

_That was the next thought that ran through my mind, but I had to remind myself saving him would be worse then letting him die. The entire world would thank me later. But that simple truth didn't seem to justify what I was doing right now. There was a living being dying an excruciating death, and here I stood, allowing it to happen._

_Zim saw me, and without a second thought, screamed for me to help him. He reached his hand out for mine. But I didn't move. He deserved it, he should know that. I saw the pain in his eyes, the confusion of why I couldn't just reach out and help him. I felt sick. I wanted to run away. But my feet were frozen, as if some sick god wanted me to witness this appalling sight._

_Zim couldn't scream as much now. He was losing energy fast, and his pak was smoking. Despite his thrashing, Zim was sinking into the water. His cries for help were muffled by the water. But I dared not move a muscle._

_It was better this way._

**Dib woke up gasping for air.** That was the third time this week that he had that dream. Looking around his room, Dib searched for his note book. Since he was little, Dib found writing down your nightmares helped chase them away. And if they didn't go away, that meant your subconscious is trying to tell you something.

But Dib was too tired and too disturbed to attempt to figure out that dream. That was a task for the morning. He dropped the slightly torn notebook and pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them, making himself as small as possible.

"I really need to lay off the late night movies before bed." Dib mumbled to himself before falling into a restless sleep.

The next morning, Dib wobbled his way into the kitchen, exhausted. Gaz, who was already eating her own breakfast, shot her brother a questioning glance. "You didn't sneak out last night, did you? You know what dad said."

Dib grumbled something under his breath and replied normally, "I wish I had snuck out. I had that dream again"

Gaz grinned. "I thought you liked to see Zim in pain."

Dib took out a box of cereal. "I did. I still do. But that dream was totally creepy, and having it over and over again is driving me insane."

Gaz chuckled. "You can't become what you already are."

Dib poured out the contents of what was left of the cereal into a bowl. All that came out was marshmallow dust and flake crumbs. "I bet you only put the empty box back to taunt me, don't you?"

Gaz drank the rest of her orange juice and dropped her empty bowl into the sink. "I'm going out. And when I come back, there better be a new box of cereal, or else…"

"I get it. Or else I will be plunged in to a nightmare world of no awaking." Dib sighed. Gaz scowled.

"Are you mocking me?" She threatened. Dib shook his head, already backing out the backdoor.

"Of course I'm not! You know, on second thought, I am not that hungry. I'll be leaving now."

Dib ran out of the house as quickly as possible, to get away from the wrath of his baby sister. Gaz huffed in annoyance and closed the door. "Whiner," She mumbled.

Dib ran out to the same place he always ran when he had a question. He went down to the hunted well. The well wasn't really hunted though. A crazy guy fell down it a year ago, and refused to climb back up, convinced he was a ghost.

Dib walked up to the old well and peered down. "Hello? Frank, I had that dream again."

Frank screamed. "What do you want mortal?!" Dib rolled his eyes.

"I want your advice. This was the third time this week and…"

"GIVE ME YOUR SOUL COLESLAW!" Frank screamed.

"I'll bring you your coleslaw later. Just tell me what I should do." Dib repeated, almost sounding desperate.

Frank remained silent, and then answered, "Why don't you tell your green plant about the dream?"

Dib frowned. "You mean Zim? He'll just rip out my organs or something."

Frank laughed. "I like organs! They give me super powers!"

"Of course they do Frank."

"My name is FRANK; Not Frank you mortal!" Frank snapped.

Dib groaned in annoyance. "Okay, I'm sorry FRANK. Do you have any other suggestions?"

Frank thought for a moment. "You could be asking yourself a question like all your other big headed friends."

Dib stood still for a second. "Wait, that doesn't make sense, what does that mean?"

Frank spoke in a monotone voice. "Please insert fifty cents to continue. Please insert fifty cents to continue. Please…"

Dib walked away frustrated, knowing that would be the all the information he would get out of that man. Dib continued walking, not really knowing where he was going. He figured he might as well aim himself towards the store so he could buy that cereal his little sister threaten him to buy, and maybe a bucket of coleslaw for Frank.

Dib walked past a barbers shop, a pet shop and a Slurp-Eleven gas station. He was only a block away from the mini-mart when he heard a very familiar voice…

"GIR! What did I tell you about talking in public?! You are an EARTH DOG! Why can't you understand that?"

Curious, Dib peeked into the alleyway where the voices were coming from. No doubt it was Zim and his little insane robot.

"I'm sorry Master. I…I forgot." The little green dog sniffled a little. Zim's expression softens.

"Look Gir, I didn't mean to make you upset. We are just going to be stuck here for a while. Blending in with the Stink Beasts is the only way we can make a living now." Zim explained. Dib eyes widened. What did Zim mean by that?

The little green dog sniffled again. "I know. Can we get some tacos?"

Zim nodded. "Sure, but only if you promise not to speak." Gir nodded happily and hugged his master.

Dib quickly hid behind a trashcan and watched the two walk away, most probably towards the Crazy Taco. He watched them disappeared around the courier. Dib waited and waited until he was sure they wouldn't come back. But while he sat, his mind was filled with questions and thoughts.

"Just great..." He muttered. "I can't believe I would waste even a second of my time thinking about that alien scum. I should be happy having that stupid dream. And whatever just happened in that alleyway is none of my concern. This is so stupid!" Dib paused for a moment. "And I am talking to myself again. Great."

Dib got up and brushed himself off. Trying his best to forget about what he just saw, he continued his way to the market. Once there, he bought some cereal, milk, and fresh meat to cook for dinner. Dib momentarily wondered if it was selfish of him to want his father to home to make dinner himself one day. But Dib quickly brushed the thought off, knowing his father had a very important job to attend to.

And in a way, Dib enjoyed being in charge of the household.

Dib made his was home, humming the theme song to star trek along the way. He was starting to feel better, and was grateful for beautiful weather. It wasn't even noon yet.

Dib made a quick pit stop by the Mac-Meaty to buy the coleslaw for Frank. He had to make it quick though, the bags were getting heavy.

Dib passed by the 'hunted' well. He looked down to see if Frank was there. He was. Dib sighed and placed the food in the bucket and lowered it down to the insane man and walked away.

Dib must have been only a few feet from his home when a large dog attacked him. Dib screamed and kicked the dog off. After thirty seconds of fighting, Dib was left with a torn jacket, no meat for dinner, and pieces of cereal scattered everywhere. Dib could only take comfort in the fact the milk was left unharmed, when he realized it was a month pass its expiration date.

Frustrated, and near his breaking point, Dib threw the milk on the sidewalk, letting the foul liquid slash upon the street. People began to stare at him, but Dib couldn't care less. He just wanted to rest for an hour so he could go out and do his errands all over again. He stormed into the house, surprising Gaz, who just got back a little before Dib. She glares at his empty hands. "Where is the cereal Dib?"

He glared back at her. "Get it yourself."

Gaz began to advance on him. "What did you say to me?"

Dib refused to answer and ran up the stairs and locked the door. Dib turned on some music, to drown out the noises his sister was making, demanding him to open up. He almost smiled. Gaz was scary, but a little girl no less. But he did feel bad about what happened to the food, because now there won't be any lunch to eat. Was that why she was angry? Because she was hungry?

Dib chuckled. "If I follow that logic, then Gaz must be starving 24/7." He said to himself. But he much rather not have his sister destroy his bedroom door. He turned off the music.

"…And once I get in there, I am going to make you pay Dib! Do you hear me you pizza stealing grease face?! You will PAY!" Dib heard his little sister rant for a few seconds longer. He silently walks got up and knocked on his side of the door, making his sister go silent.

"Gaz, I was bringing the food but something happened to it. I am calling Bloaties, so we can have something to eat today." Through the thick wood, Dib could almost hear Gaz gasp. She would never admit to it, but she did. Pizza take out was for Friday dinner, and Friday dinners only. Ordering it on any other day for lunch was unheard of.

Gaz didn't answer for a second.

"And I will go out later this evening for the milk and cereal. Am I still doomed, or can I live today?"

He heard Gaz snort on the other side. "I _guess_ you can live. But just for today."

Dib opened the door and carefully walked past his sister, avoiding her glare. Little or not, Gaz's dark aura still freaked him out.

Dib walked to the kitchen and picked up the receiver and his cell phone started to ring. Not wanting to be rude, he answered it.

"Hello?" Dib asked in a normal tone.

The caller didn't make any sound.

"Hello, who is this?" Dib asked again, a bit more forcefully.

"…Dib Stink?"

Dib nearly dropped the home phone. "Zim! Why are you calling? HEY! How did you get my number?"

Zim paused for a second. "Dib Stink, I want to make a deal with you. If you don't want your world to be destroyed, I suggest you come by my house this evening; preferable at 7:30pm. Gir wouldn't be interrupting as much then, thanks to that information box's schedule."

Dib sighed. "It's called a TV Zim. One year on earth and you still don't know the proper names to stuff." Then his voice got angry. "And do you think I am stupid? This has 'Trap' spelled all over it! Now if you excuse me, I have to call Bloaties for my sister. Don't call me again you alien scum." Dib hung up, and started to dial for the pizza.

Gaz was standing by the kitchen the whole time. She waited for Dib to finish ordering the kind of toppings he wanted, with of course a little input from her. After he hung up Gaz asked her question.

"What did Zim want?"

Dib looked at Gaz with a surprised look on his face. "He wanted me to come to his house tonight. It was a bit too suspicious for my taste so I declined."

Gaz shrugged. "Zim is losing his touch." She said plainly.

Dib chuckled. "Yeah, he is. He stopped screaming as much, and it's been a while since I fought him. I hate to admit it, but Zim is getting boring."

"What do you think he wanted?"

Dib rolled his eyes. "Who knows, and who cares?"

Gaz switched her attention back to her game and sat on the couch. Dib started to dig around in his now ruined coat for his wallet when his sister spoke again.

"Maybe he is giving up?" She said with carelessness.

Dib froze for a second, but resumed searching. He didn't answer his sister, but was now seriously giving Zim's invitation some more thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**EDIT: ****I just want to make a side note. A****ll chapters are written ahead of time. Also, this is one of my favorite chapters! Have fun!**

**Okay, here is the second chapter to the story. I hope you enjoy it.**

**And if you are looking for ZADR, go somewhere else.**

**This is a ZADF story.**

**As in friendship.**

**As in no making out.**

**I can't make it any clearer then that.**

**And remember, I don't own Invader Zim!**

Dib was poking at his pizza nervously, slipping glances every once in a while at the overhanging clock. This odd behavior was beginning to get on Gaz's nerves. She looked at the time out of curiosity. It was only six o'clock.

"Dib, if you have somewhere to go, just go." Gaz said finally, hitting the pause button on her game.

Dib sighed. He knew she was talking about Zim since he already made the second trip to the store after the pizza came. "He asked me to come at seven thirty. It's too early to leave."

"Then stop being so annoying. You are distracting me." Gaz snapped as she turned back to her game.

Dib went back to poking his pizza. He still wasn't sure if he should leave at all. He was worried that it was a trap, but a piece of him wanted to know if Zim had finally given up.

Finally, Dibs curiosity got the best of him. He walked out of the room and started to rummage his room for any alien weapons he could find to defend himself. When he came back down with an object that seemed to resemble a gun, his sister almost immediately stopped playing her GS2 and stared at her brother.

"I thought you said you thought this was a trap."

Dib shrugged. "Curiosity got the best me."

Gaz went back to her game and settled back in her seat on the couch. "Curiosity is what killed the cat."

Dib nodded. "Yes, but the thing the cat was curious about was the reason why the world is so screwed up." Dib left the house and didn't turn back. Gaz wondered about Dib's comeback but ignored it. She was at the final level.

Dib walked down the sidewalk by himself. It was a nice warm summer evening. The sun was still out but Dib liked it better when it was dark. He could see the stars then.

No one bothered Dib during his walk. And with each step Dib took, he knew all he had to do was turn around and go home. But something drove him. It was his hungering curiosity to find the truth. For weeks now, Zim has almost become a different person. He stopped yelling like a mad man. Zim had begun to avoid Dib and everyone else more often. He even changed his clothing.

Zim now wore a pair of black pants much like his old ones, except it was made of jeans and not rubber. He also wore a black shirt with a red jacket. Zim even switched to a more normal looking wig that had black hair that fell neatly over one of his fake contact eyes.

But in some ways, Zim was still Zim. Zim still had the worst luck with name calling and still had an urge to yell, "I am normal!" every once in a while.

But no one could deny the fact Zim was acting more depressed then usual. Something had happened. And Dib was determined to find out what. Not that he was worried.

Dib walked up to the front steps of Zim's home, half surprised of getting there so soon. He knocked on the door twice and waited. Gir torn open the door and hugged Dib, nearly crushing his ribs.

"Gir!" Dib choked out. Gir hugged tighter.

"Mary! I am so glad you came! Master is being all cranky and was yelling bad things about you! I want a monkey Mary!" Gir wailed. The robot then let go of the poor boy and dragged him inside. "Okay Mary, Master will be here any second. I got to go and do stuff!" Gir zipped his suit on and ran out the door. Dib sighed and closed the door and sat on the couch.

"You're late." Said a familiar voice from the kitchen Dib automatically back stood up.

"What do you want alien scum?" Dib demanded to know, in the tone of voice he normally used when performing his unacknowledged heroics.

Zim pointed at him in a vileness way on instinct, paused and reformed his normal posture making clear he didn't want to fight. Not yet. "I Zim, have an intriguing proposition for the both of us that may benefit both sides of the party."

"What party?" Dib asked, not used to the professionally sounding sentence that escaped Zim.

Zim frowned at Dibs ignorance. "That's not important Dib-Beast. Do you want to talk, or do you want Zim to kill you?"

"Since when did you want to talk?" Dib asked, still wary of the possibility of a trap.

"Since certain events happened. But that's none of your business." Zim snapped.

Dib sarcastically raised hands mocking his rival. "Oh, did I touch a raw nerve?"

Zim slammed his fist on the kitchen table. "_It's none of your business_!"

Dib took a step back. He never had seen Zim react that way.

Zim sensed the humans surprise and returned to normal. "As I was saying, I am willing to make a …compromise." The word sounded strange coming from the invader, like someone had misplaced their vocabulary and it had made its may in Zim's mouth.

But Dib didn't bring attention to it. "What kind of a compromise? Because if its something retarded like you only taking over only _half_ the world, its not going to happen."

Zim looked at the floor. "That wasn't the deal Zim had in mind. I had a feeling you'd hate that idea anyway."

Dib raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Zim sighed. "It pains me to say this, but… I won't be taking over Earth at all Dib-Stink. All I ask in return is that you stop trying to turn me in to the Bulging Eye Sockets."

"Swollen Eyeballs." Dib quickly corrected. Then he fell into a shocked silence when the impact of Zim's words hit him.

Zim continued. "Its hardly a truce since you get to keep all these idiots alive on this filthy dirt ball, while I Zim am able to out live you pigs; buts it's the best I can do for now."

Dib shakily pointed at Zim. "You…You are _giving up_?"

Zim nodded. "In a sense…"

Dib continued to speak in disbelief. "Giving up, you know what that means, right? No more evil plots to destroy/massacre/enslave the human race. No more insane battles where I chase you with some alien gadget. No more experimenting on me and testing your inventions on helpless kids. _No more anything_."

Zim smiled faintly and nodded again. "Yes, those will be fond memories…"

"_Why?_"

Zim shot a look at Dib. "Why do you want to know?"

Dib fumbled for the words. "This just isn't like you. Actually, you haven't been yourself for some time."

Zim avoided the bait. "Do you want to make the deal or not?" He snapped in an aggravated tone.

Dib quickly nodded. "Yes! Yes, of course I want make the deal!"

"Good. Remember, no more trying to turn me in or else the truce is off." Zim reminded. Dib nodded. Not knowing what to do next, he held out his hand. Zim stared at it blankly. "What?"

Dib rolled his eyes. "You are supposed to shake it. It is how humans show that they agree with each other."

Zim grabbed Dibs hand and shook it violently. Dib quickly pulled his hand away before having it broken. "Um… We'll work on that later."

After Zim had pushed Dib out the door and Dib had returned home, Dib had had a numb feeling in his chest. "No more fighting. No more saving the world._ No more anything_." Dib repeated to himself, unable to believe the words that were escaping his lips. For years he yearned for a chance to prove his sanity. And once Dib got it, he made a deal to give it away. But, as Dib reasoned, it was a small price to pay for the worlds' safety.

Gaz walked past her brother in the kitchen, drinking the last soda. "You look like you've seen a ghost… and knowing you, you probably didn't because then you would be rambling like an idiot about it."

Dib stared at the ceiling. "I feel like my inner child died." He said in a near whisper.

Gaz scoffed. "It's about time. He was annoying." She glared at Dib. "I am going to bed. If you wake me, I will kill you."

Dib nodded, never lifting his gaze from the ceiling. "Sure, whatever you say."

Gaz stared at him strangely and proceeded up the stairs. "Whiner." She said under her breath.

Dib stayed in the kitchen, sitting in the dark. He still didn't understand why Zim gave up. Everything about him was wrong now. The depressing attitude, the sudden obsession of appearing normal in public, the new truce Dib had agreed to. None of it seemed right.

"Something happened." Dib mused to himself. "And I will stop at nothing to find out. Only natural, this could all be a set up. A trap. I can't trust Zim for a second." Despite the truce, Dib still felt very much paranoid about the whole situation.

But what else can you expect from the Earths first and only underappreciated hero?


	3. Chapter 3

**Third chapter and still going strong!**

**I feel very proud of myself.**

**More so that I am actually getting responses for this story!**

**Yay!**

**And if you really like my writing, feel free to check out my other stories.**

**By far, CatNip and FanBam are my most popular stories.**

**Well, at the time being.**

**I am writing this chapter before even posting the first chapter!**

**So I don't even have reviews yet.**

**Um, so I guess I was meant to say, Thanks for the future reviews!**

…**But then you are reading it now, so it would be the present…**

**Ugh…**

**(Brain explodes)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim**

Dib snuck out to break into Zims' base, just as he would have in the past except this time with a slightly different motive. Dib couldn't bring himself to trust Zim, at least not until he found out the truth.

Dib silently crept past the large eyed gnomes with ease. He realized then that they weren't even activated. And the green 'home' wasn't glowing like it usually did. It was like a graveyard. It was too quiet.

Dib peered into the purple tinted window to see Gir distracted by the blinding television. On any other day, Dib would have simply knocked on the door to have the stupid thing let him in, but Dib couldn't risk having the robot making any noise.

Dib then decided to use a different path. He steps lively around the house to look for a back entrance. There were no doors or windows to speak of, but there was a roughly medium-small sized hole most likely to have been dug by Gir himself. Thankful for the robots idiocy, Dib brushed away the loose plaster and crawled into unknown territory.

The hole led to another tunnel that felt like a vent. While crawling, Dib pulled out the weapon he was hiding in his coat pocket incase of any security-bots. There were none. There were usually buzzing sounds of machines of all sorts working whenever Dib snuck in. The base was too quiet, in a way it scared Dib. The base was _never_ quiet.

Finally, Dib reached an opening. He slowly and quietly slipped out and landed on the concrete floor, hardly making a sound. He could afford to have Zim find out he was sneaking in his home and jeopardize the truce.

The room was filled with strange and fascinating machines and computers, but none of them were activated. The only light in the room was some glowing wires that lay carelessly on the floor, hooked on to the now useless machines. Dib hopped over each one, careful not to trip. Dib now had to look for a room that held some clues to explain Zims' sudden change in behavior.

Dib ran his hand against the cool wall, making his way to the main computer room. If he were to catch sight of Zim, all he had to do was use his agility to hide in the wires in the ceiling. But if Zim were to catch sight of Dib _before_ he had the chance to hide…

Dib shook the idea out of his head. He had to remain positive.

Dib soon found himself in the main computer room. Like the other rooms, it too was filled with machines, except these machines weren't turned off completely. The large screen was buzzing and emitting a dark red color indicating it was in sleep mode. Dib cautiously walked up to the key board. On it, there was a smaller screen reserved for text and simple commands and a large key board filled with buttons with different Irken letters.

But something was off about the room. Dib blinked so his eyes would adjust to the darkness of the room and gasped at the now visible details.

The key board was smashed in certain areas as if an angry child with super strength threw a tantrum. The large screen was tilted and sparks were flying out the cracks in the glass. Dib looked with horror, trying to imagine what had happened in the room. Was Zim in a fight? Did he go insane?

Dib pressed a red button that was glowing slightly under the small screen that was left untouched. A menu appeared on it. Dib struggled for a second, trying to translate the Irken letters. Thanks to Tak's ship, Dib was able to decipher most of the words.

"Replay last message…" Dib said quietly to himself as he selected his choice and pressed the red button again.

The large screen whirled to life, surprising the boy. One the screen appeared two tall Irkens, each with a specially made armor that matched their individual eye colors.

"Those are Zims' leaders, the Tallest…" Dib remembered them after the last time he was able to speak with them. They were strange, and seemed to much more sensible then Zim.

"Zim, if you receive this message, we want you to listen very closely. The turning point of ID2 is coming and we are coming across obstacles." Spoke the one with red eyes.

"It is time we let go of our fun and games to ensure a safe and overwhelming victory." The one with purple eyes chimed in. Dib made a note of how annoying his voice sounded.

"It is time we came clean Zim. We, not just Purple and I, but the whole Irken population hates you. You have caused nothing but chaos. You ruined ID1, killed off the pervious Tallest, and ruined what potentially could have been the greatest Invader ever lived. (Tak)" The one with red eyes continued.

"Not to mention you made the control brains go insane after your trial, which was a disaster. And that time you caused all of Irk to go into a time of darkness. Technically, you did it three times, but the last time was on Devastis." The one with purple eyes finished off.

"Attempt after attempt, we couldn't seem to get rid off you. Not until you demanded a planet to be assigned to in order to "Redeem" yourself at the Great Assigning for Impending Doom 2. To be quite honest, I didn't even know there was even a planet where I pointed to on the map. I thought there was just open space and you would simply die of starvation or something." The one with red eyes spoke casually. His expression hardened. "But damn it to Irk, you just had to find a way to survive. You couldn't let us rule in peace. The only reason we didn't simply blow up the planet you call Earth right then and there was because whenever you sent us a transmission, you always made a fool of yourself."

A cruel smirk crawled on both of the Tallests' faces. The purple one spoke again. "You are a laughing stock on Irk Zim. A royal fool. A public idiot. _A defective_."

Dib stood frozen, unable to believe what he was hearing. Were all these things true? Then the truce was nothing more then a way of Zim protecting himself.

"But to make sure you don't screw up our chances of victory this time, we are declaring you as a criminal. Earth will be your prison. If you leave it or attempt to gain control of it, we will kill you. We will shoot you down like the common mutt you are." The one with red eyes had a sick smirk. Dib could see the unnerving hatred in their eyes.

"We mean it Zim. Don't contact us. And don't think about leaving Earth. Remember, you are a criminal now." The one with purple eyes said. He began to laugh a little. "Probably the most useful thing you can do is let that human you are always rambling about dissect you or something."

The red one playfully nudged the purple one. "Wouldn't it be great to see that? Imagine, Zim being cut up into little pieces."

The purple one bursts into laughter. "Yeah! I bet the humans are so primitive; they won't even put him to sleep! I bet they still use scalpels!"

The two continued to laugh for a few seconds more shutting off the transmission. Dib stood there in shocked silence. "I can't believe it…Zim is…"

"Zim is what?" asked an icy voice from behind. Dib spun around, only to be greeted by a harsh slap across the face. Dib staggered back a few steps to see Zim out of his disguise. Zim advanced on Dib and pushed him to the floor. "What are you doing here?!" He demanded to know.

Dib looked at Zim and could see the pain and hurt in his eyes. "I…I…" Dib couldn't seem to find the words.

Zim took another step towards Dib, causing Dib to crawl backwards. "So now you know, eh?" Zim said angrily. "You think you are so smart, breaking into my home! Don't you think it was degrading enough to have to surrender to your enemy? You couldn't just take the truce and go? You just had to make me feel lower then I already do!"

Dib shuffled to his feet, now terrified of the look of pure rage on Zims face. "I-I am sorry Zim!"

"GET OUT!" Zim screamed. "GET OUT! And never come back!"

Dib dropped the weapon he had in his hand and ran. He was so surprised over whelmed with fear and guilt, he wouldn't have been able to use it properly anyway.

Zim was left stand alone in the dark, shaking with anger. Irkens are not allowed to feel sadness. To shed tears meant you were weak. And Zim desperately wanted to preserve any honor he had left.

As for Dib, he kept running home and didn't stop until he crashed though his own front door. Was he afraid of Zim? No, not really. Zim had scared Dib, but Dib felt more guilty then afraid. He had seen Zim angry; in fact making Zim angry would be the highlight of his day. But to see Zim enraged like that; and to see him angry over a good reason was a whole new experience.

Dib slumped against the wall and looked at his VCR. It read 1:23am. Exhausted, Dib decided to close his eyes, and just rest for a little.


	4. Chapter 4

**D8 And the plot thickens!**

**I really hope you people are enjoying this!**

**And you Zim purists better be cheering for joy. There aren't that many good ZADF stories out there.**

**The best by far, has to be IEAB.**

**((Goes all Emo))**

**I can never write that good…**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not and never will own Invader Zim. If I did, it would look like an anime, and have ten times more angst. Be glad I don't own it!**

**Note: I love fan art! I really do! Not begging, don't accuse me! I didn't say anything! This note doesn't exist! (Screams and runs)**

"Hey idiot, get up!" Gaz angrily yelled, shaking her brother awake. "I can't get to school if you are drooling over my book bag!"

Dib absentmindedly waved her off. "Leave me alone, its still summer…"

Gaz smirked. "Think again, and check your calendar. Today is the first day of school."

Dibs eyes flew open. "What?"

Gaz spoke slowly, like she was speaking to a child. "Today is the first day of school. Now get off my stuff!" Gaz promptly kicked Dib in the ribs and retrieved her things.

Dib wobbled to his feet and looked at the time. "Oh man, oh man! I only have ten minutes to get ready!"

Gaz plucked her house key from the bowl. "You have five minutes. You take the middle skool's bus now."

Dib nearly had a heart attack. Without saying a word, he dashed up the stairs, grabbed his book bag that had been prepared the week before and quickly checked himself in the mirror. Dib immediately froze once he caught sight of his refection. On his cheek were three long cuts that could easily be mistaken as knife marks. Who knew Zim had claws?

Taking another second to angst over his horrible appearance for his first day of school, Dib bolted out the back door, not bothering to lock it. "I can't be late! I just can't be late!" Dib yelled at himself, jumping a fence.

To Dibs horror, the middle school bus was already driving away. He ran faster then he ever ran before. The kids on the bus peered out the back window, taunting him.

"Just a few more inches…" Dib reached out his hand, about to scrap his fingertips against the emergency door handle. "I…"

The bus abruptly stops, causing Dib to crash into the bus door and be thrown to the pavement.

Dib felt himself hit his head on the ground and rolled on his side in pain. He heard the bus screech to a stop and the bus driver yelling. Exhausted from the lack of sleep, Dib had trouble getting up. He pressed his hands on the ground and pushed himself into a sitting position.

The bus driver ran out the bus and helped Dib up. "Are you crazy son? You could have gotten killed!" His voice was heavy with the scent of tobacco, making Dib feel uneasy.

"I'm fine. Just let me on the bus." Dib snapped, hating the streak of bad luck he seemed to be going though. Dib mentally cursed at God, even though his father repeatedly told him there was no such thing.

The bus ride to school was strangely silent. Dib could feel the stares burning holes in the back of his head. He couldn't tell though if it was because he crashed into the bus, or the cuts on his face were more noticeable then he at first thought.

When Dib finally did reach the middle school, he suddenly became very impressed with the large size of it all. It took him forever to tear though the lines to get his schedule.

Every so often, he would come across a familiar face. But instead of receiving a polite greeting or even a degrading remark about his own sanity, his former peers had a totally different reaction.

First, a gasp from a girl, most probably from the claw marks. Then there were two guys whispering about his height. Dib hadn't grown much over the summer. Lastly, just before the bell, a rude remark about himself and Zim. Dib grumbled to himself. Maybe stalking Zim with a pair of handcuffs_ wasn't_ such a bright idea.

Dib sat himself in a desk right next to the window. It will prove as useful for a quick escape rote incase of an embarrassing moment or an insanely boring lecture.

The teacher began roll call.

"Dib?"

"Here."

"Tamie?"

"Here I am!"

"Mary Sue?"

"Present!"

"Doma?"

"Huh? Oh, here."

"Zim?"

"HERE!"

Dib jerked back in his desk from surprise. The teacher cleaned out his ear. "Listen," He started. "This is roll call, you don't yell unless it PE or if your teacher is some old bat like Mrs. Bitters."

Some random kid jumped on his desk. "I heard she died!"

"Liar!" Yelled another kid. "She is teaching preschoolers"

"No way! I heard she was eaten by Chicken Foot!"

"Chicken Foot is human moron!"

"I know, what's your point?"

"…Yikes."

During this ruckus, he turned around to catch a glimpse of Zim. He was sitting in the back, safely tucked in a corner next to the atlas's and globes. By chance, Zim sifted his stare to Dib, and immediately growled.

Dib quickly turned around. "Yep." He said to himself. "He's still mad."

It was a miracles Dib lived at all during that class. Zim kept throwing rubber band balls, with little staple spikes all over them. If it weren't for the teacher, they would have never had stopped hitting Dib. Sadly, Zim threw them so quickly; the teacher kept sending the wrong student to the office.

Dib figured Zim only stopped throwing them because he ran out.

Dib left the class with little holes punched into his coat and back. As big as Dibs head was, Zim seemed to keep missing his mark.

But as painful as that class was, Dib couldn't really blame Zim. He still hated him more so then Donald Trump did to Rosey Ol Donald, but at least he knew when he was wrong.

Dib felt it was best to make an apology of sorts to Zim that day. Maybe at lunch.


	5. Chapter 5

**Oh man, my stomach hurts!**

**I ate too much…**

**Are ya happy? I am writing when I feel like exploding!**

**Make me feel better with reviews!**

**Uh oh… Too late.**

**(Explodes)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own IZ! Johnny will eat me if I made that claim!**

Dib stood awkwardly in the middle of the lunchroom, holding his tray of slop. There were so many people; it would be a miracle for him to find a simple place to sit, let alone find Zim.

Of course, this _is_ Zim we are talking about.

"Get out of my way you humans! Can you not see me trying to find a table where I don't have to deal with YOUR HORRIBLE SMELL!?" Screamed a voice from the other side of the room.

Dib rolled his eyes and walked towards the source. Sure enough, there was Zim scaring away students from a lunch table, making it his own.

"I see you are doing well." Dib greeted, earning a glare from Zim.

Zim got settled in his seat and gritted his teeth. "What do you want? Cant you see I'm busy?"

Dib eyed him. "You are just sitting." Zim huffed and crossed his arms.

"I am busy ignoring you!" Zim stated.

Dib shrugged and sat across Zim. Zim hissed. "What are you doing?!"

Dib poked at his food. "Sitting. You can still ignore me."

"Fine then, I will!" Zim sat there and started to stab his meatloaf with a fork.

An awkward moment passed.

"IRK! Will you just leave?!" Zim suddenly screamed.

Dib smiled. "You are not too good with the whole 'ignoring' thing, are you?"

"Will, it's a bit hard when you smell so bad!" Zim countered.

Dib scoffed, but quickly smelled his coat. Quietly, he muttered, "Liar."

Another awkward moment passed.

Dib sighed. "Actually, I wanted to tell you something."

Zim eyed Dib. "If it's a word of pity, I will stab your eye out Dib-Stink." He threatened.

Dib shook his head. "No, I just wanted to say I am sorry."

Zim raised his fork.

Dib quickly waved his hands defensively. "Let me finish! I am sorry that I broke into your base! It was wrong of me and you were right. It was none of my business."

Zim lowered his fork. "That's pretty big of you." He smirked.

"So you forgive me?"

"Hell no."

Dib raised an eyebrow. "Did… Did you just curse?"

Zim shrugged. "It seemed to fit the situation. Zim learned many words here on this awful dirtball."

Another awkward moment passed.

Dib coughed a little. "So…" He started. "Now what?"

Zim stabbed his food some more. Dib swore he heard it scream a little. "Well, there is still the truce…"

"Yeah…" Dib laughed a little. "Who knew I spent all my free time fighting with you."

"The teacher, your parental unit, your scary sister, that awful Keef, all those smelly children, that hobo man, the…"

"OKAY! I get it!" Dib interrupted Zim.

Zim drummed his fingers a little. "Zim is bored." He stated. "I hate this… bored feeling. It's boring."

Dib sarcastically made a motion at Zim. "Zim! The alien of many words."

Zim growled and flung a chunk of applesauce at Dib. Dib dodged it making the sauce land in the trashcan.

"… Well that was pretty anticlimactic."

Zim rolled his eyes. "What did you expect human, a clichéd food fight?"

"Sorta, yeah."

Zim scoffed and returned to his food. "This planet is boring. If I was at Irk, I could be killing stuff in training, or maybe even upgrades for my weapons."

Dib stared at Zim. "Is that all Irkens do? Fight and prepare to fight?"

Zim smirked. "We are a military planet you monkey. Of course that's all we do!"

Dib tapped his finger to his chin. "Well, humans don't kill people for fun, but can pretend to on video games."

"That's why your race is so pathetic!" Zim crackled.

"Its either that or you can sulk in your base all day."

If looks can kill, Dib would have had his head chopped off by now. "I hate you."

"The feeling is mutual." Dib sighed. "So how about it?"

Zim thought for a moment. "No tricks?"

"No tricks."

Zim made a face. "We don't have to act like we are friends or anything?"

"Heck no. I'd sooner kill myself." Dib said quickly.

Zim nodded. "Good. Zim will be at your base at five o' clock."

Dib nodded and the two ate… well, attempted to eat in silence,

Meanwhile, back at Dib's home there was a computer screen flashing. It was e-mail from the Swollen Eyeball Network.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hurray for updates!**

**It seems people enjoy this story very much, and I haven't even gotten to the good parts yet.**

**Not that I will give anything away.**

**You will just have to wait and see.**

**XD Oh, and now my brother is giving me ideas for new angst one shots.**

**It's fun to corrupt small minds.**

**(Laughs like a maniac)**

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own Invader Zim! But it does own YOU.**

Dib entered his home and eagerly stretched his arms. "Gaz? Are you home?" He called out. He got a soft growl for an answer.

He shrugged and tossed his book bag against the wall. "Do we have any leftover pizza? I am in a bit of a rush."

Gaz opened one of her eyelids. "In a rush for what?"

"Zim is coming over, and I much rather not hear him rant on about how disgusting my eating habits are." Dib quickly explained, walking into the kitchen.

Gaz returned to her game. "I see your battles with Zim are getting a bit civil."

Dib laughed as he pulled out the box of cold pizza. "No battle this time Gaz. It's more of an apologetic outing."

Gaz hit pause. "What?"

Dib took a bite of pizza. "Mmm, we should order pizza more often."

"Dib." Gaz said in a dangerous growl. She hated being ignored.

"What is it Gaz?" Dib asked innocently.

"Just yesterday you were raving about how you can't trust Zim. Now you are hanging out with him?!"

"Apologetic outing." Dib corrected, working on his second slice.

"Whatever!"

Dib shrugged and left the rest of the pizza out for Gaz. "Zim isn't a threat anymore. So we set up a truce."

"He is still an alien." Gaz reminded. "And you always wanted to dissect him, even before you knew he was a threat."

Before Dib could argue, the doorbell sounded. "Listen, we will talk about this later." He quickly said before answering the door.

When the door did open, Zim didn't stop ringing the doorbell. "Irk, this button is addicting." Zim said out loud, not making it clear if he had noticed Dib or not.

"Make him stop!" Gaz yelled from the other room.

Dib rolled his eyes and stuffed his wallet in his pocket. "Alright Gaz. Take care, if anything happens, just call me."

"Will you just leave?!"

Zim stood up straight and crossed him arms. "So, ready to show me your pitiful games Dib-Stink?" He said smirking.

Dib closed and locked the door. "Sure am Alien-Scum."

The plan was to take a city bus to the arcade. Dib was shocked to realize Zim absolutely hated the idea. He kicked and screamed, and started to rant about a clown lady and a most terrible smell. Dib finally agreed that they won't be taking a bus.

They would be taking a taxi instead.

But Zim hated that idea too. Something about Mexico and meat…

So they walked. And by the time they did get to the arcade, they had already wasted an hour.

Nether the less, it was still very amusing. Dib got a high score on Space Invaders, and Zim made a fool of himself on the DDR mat. Dib had to drag the green boy away before he destroyed the machine out of frustration. But Zim did find one game he enjoyed and it was Whack a Mole.

Dib was amazed to realize that he was actually having a good time. Although it was a little nagging to remind Zim every two minutes not to hit the small children or having Zim remind him not to rant about Bigfoot or Nessy. They both had their flaws; Dib was willing to admit that.

When it was time to pick out the prizes, the two competed over who could get the best prize. Dib had enough tickets to buy a small plastic UFO model. Zim got a scary monkey poster.

"Ewww Zim, why did you get that?" Dib said, while opening the door to get out. Zim pouted and bopped him on the head with the poster; that was still in its plastic seal.

"It's for Gir; I personally hate that awful monkey." He growled.

Dib gave his toy a little squeeze, making it squeak a little. "You care a lot about Gir, don't you?"

Zim raised an invisible eyebrow. "I don't." he simply said.

Dib stuffed his toy in his coat pocket. "Yes you do, or else you would have thrown him away by now."

Zim darkened. "Why would I do that?"

"Well, he is a bit… useless."

"You mean he is a defect."

Dib was about to say yes, but quickly caught himself before doing so. He saw the hurt on Zims face. "Oh wow, I didn't mean…"

Zim waved his hand, "Don't dwell on it human. Zim knows you didn't mean it."

Dib sighed in relief. He could believe how quick Zim was to forgive him, but didn't think much about it.

The two continued to walk in silence. When the time came to go their separate ways, they stumbled across another awkward moment.

"I am a bit surprised." Dib chuckled. "I thought we would fight, but it was a pretty tame evening."

Zim nodded. "I have to home or else Gir will burn down the base. I will see you at the educational fortress of boredom tomorrow."

"You can just say 'school' Zim."

"My name for it seems more appropriate."

Zim turned around and started walking, then stopped. Without looking back, he said, "You are so awful… for a human."

Dib smiled. "And you are not so evil for an alien."

And with that, the two went to their separate homes.

Fast-forwarding to Dibs home now…

Dib entered his home, not surprised to see all the rooms were dark. "Gaz must be in bed already. What time is it?" Dib said to no one in particular. Not really wanting to know, he went upstairs to his own room.

Once in, Dib looked at his walls. They were all cluttered with posters and papers with plans to expose Zim scrawled on them. The floor had cheap and useless toys he bought from a back of magazines, all for destroying Zim.

He began to tear the papers off the walls and stuffed the gadgets in a garbage bag. He would take the bag outside tomorrow for the garbage man. Tying up the now overstuffed bag, he noticed his computer flashing.

Yawning, he opened the virtual letter and read it.

**Moth Man**

**The Swollen Eyeball Network had taken your evidence into consideration. With some encouragement from Dark Booty, we have decided to keep in close contact with you. If necessary, we will provide weapons and reasonable backup.**

**The only condition however, you must provide some hard evidence that the one identified as Zim is an alien. Even a simple photograph will do.**

**Good luck and God speed Moth Man.**

**Sincerely,**

**Disemboweled Head**

Dib drummed his fingers on his desk. This was an interesting turn of events.

"_You always wanted to dissect Zim, even before you knew he was a threat."_

Gaz's words rang though his head, but Dib shook them out. "No, I can't. The truce…" Dib thought a little harder. Technically, Dib wasn't getting anything in return. It seemed cruel, but as his father would tell him, "If it's for the sake of science, anything goes."

Before going to bed and setting his alarm, Dib placed a camera in his book bag.


	7. Chapter 7

**If you thought Dib was a jerk last chapter, just wait!**

**Does that count as a spoiler?**

**Ah, forget it.**

**Man, five chapters and I haven't gotten to the juicy center yet!**

**Mmmm, juicy center… somehow, that makes me think of ribs.**

**Or brisket.**

**Whatever tastes best?**

**Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own Invader Zim!**

_Dib leaned back on his chair in class. It was in the morning, and Zim was sitting in the back somewhere. Dib thought of the camera in his book bag and how he could use it. A tug of guilt was felt in his heart, but he ignored it._

_But, Dib did however had a hard time paying attention in class. Once it did end however, Zim made his move and walked up to Dib._

"_Hey, Dib-Monster." Was the Ex-Invaders greeting. "You are getting infected with germs? You don't seem all too…normal."_

_Dib let his head hit the desk. "Can it. What do you know about normal?"_

_There was no response. Dib looked up. His face fell in horror and screamed._

_Zims' face looked like it was decaying, and was missing his left eye. In a gargled voice, he replied with a mimicked question._

"_What do you know about normal?"_

Dib sat up, shivering in a cold sweat. His heart felt like it was about to pound out of chest. Coming to his senses, he looked out the window. It was a little after dawn. Silently cursing, Dib made his way to the shower and got ready for the day.

By the time Dib was downstairs, Gaz was already eating a bowl of cereal. Dib yawned. "Gaz, why are you up so early?" He asked.

Gaz glared at him. "I was about to ask you the same question. Did you sneak out again?"

"I wish…" Dib touched his forehead, sensing the presence of Dejavu in the situation.

Gaz went back to eating. "Had the same dream again I see."

Dib yawned again and poured himself a cup of coffee. "Same plot, different version."

"Did Zim kill you this time?"

"More like a Zombie Zim at school."

"Ah."

That was it. 'Ah', as in 'Ah, my brother is insane'. 'Ah, I can't believe my brother is insane.' 'Ah, I am so glad I am the sane one.'

Dib threw his hands in the air. "Oh, who asked you!?" Gaz looked at him, a little confused. Dib drank down his coffee without any milk or sugar. Ignoring the burning in his mouth, he didn't set the mug down until it was empty.

Gaz ate the rest of her cereal and drank down her milk. Without saying a word, she put her dishes in the sink and started to play her game. "And they say girls are emotional…" She said under her breath. Dib didn't hear or at least pretended not to.

At school, Dibs _real _school, Dib was sitting up front as usual. Zim had taken a liking towards reading the Atlases in the back. No one seemed to notice how on edge Dib was today. Not even Zim.

Until he was called upon in roll.

The teacher cleared his throat and said Dibs name, as it was the first name on the list. Dib was so startled; he sharply stood up, knocking over his desk.

"Mr. Membrane, I'd appreciate it if I could go though this list without you making a fool of yourself." The teacher said sternly.

"Yes sir." Dib fixed his seat, wincing at the giggles and taunts of his peers.

Teacher fixed his glasses and continued with role. Afterward, he began to teach about Hitler and the Holocaust. Dib thought it was a bit heavy for the second day of school, but listened anyway. All along, Dib avoided speaking and even glancing at Zim. Once the bell rang, Dib bolted out the door.

At lunch, Dib was once again forced to sit next to Zim. He placed his tray down and sat sighing.

Zim looked at him. "You look like hell."

Dib jerked up. "Where did you learn that phrase?"

Zim shrugged. "On the TEL-a-vision."

"Of course." Dib started to stab his meatloaf, not feeling all too hungry.

Zim yawned as he began playing with what looked like spaghetti. Dib raised an eyebrow. Zim never yawned before. He didn't think Zim could_ get_ tired. Could Irkens sleep?

"I see you slept as well as I did." Dib muttered.

Zim shock his head. "I don't sleep. Don't have to."

"So why did you yawn?"

Zim glared at Dib. "Because I felt like it, okay?"

"Okay, okay, Sheesh."

The two sat in silence. After maybe five or six minutes, Dib made his move. "Zim, would it be alright if I went to your house after school?"

Zim let out a growl. "Do you remember last time?"

"That won't happen again. I swear, I will only stay on the first floor." Dib reasoned.

Zim shook his head. "I don't know… I still don't trust you."

Dib sighed and took a bite of his food. Almost immediately, he started choking. "This…tastes really bad!" He wheezed.

Zim crackled in amusement. Then he went silent. "Why did you ask?"

"Ask what?"

"Why do you want to see my base?"

Dib chuckled nervously. "No reason just bored." That was a lie, Dib wanted to take photos.

Zim didn't lift his stare. It was making Dib feel uncomfortable. "Filthy human…" He said under his breath. Dib looked away out of guilt. Maybe he saw though his lie…

"…Always asking such stupid things." Zim continued. "I suppose it will be alright but take the Gaz-Human. I can trust her to keep you on a leash."

Dib practically deflated with relief. "That sounds fair. I'm sure Gir will be happy to see her." He choked out, trying to sound normal.

The two looked at each other and bursted into laughter at the thought of Gaz being hugged by Gir.

Zim stopped laughing. "I better upgrade his armor."

"That sounds like a good idea." Dib added quickly.

Once the bell rung and the two separated, Dib wondered to himself if it was wise to backstab Zim. He certainly wasn't going to go back on his plan. Did that make him evil?

Well, it didn't make him feel like hero if that's what you were thinking.

The rest of the day was a blur. It is pointless for me to point out that Middle School is full of perverted idiots, and I much rather not type about that. Let's just say Dib was forced to suffer to suggestive jokes and lyrics and was nearly driven to insanity. (I am SO glad I am in High School. I think there is less jokes, if not, I might have learned to ignore them.)

Anyway, after school, Dib walked over to his old elementary school to pick up Gaz. She sometimes liked to loiter with her friends by the playground set and talk about 'bringing down the oppressive government' and 'How to kill the president, his cabinet, and the congress in one huge glorious BOOM'. Little things like that, I mean what else is there to talk about?

Thanks to his luck, Dib did see Gaz chatting it up with her friends. She had gotten (Or at least was socially more acceptable) since Dib moved on to Middle School.

"Hey Gaz." Dib greeted with a big smile. The girls glared at him. They were all wearing dark punk clothes, some resembling the Japanese models Dib saw in those foreign magazines.

One girl smacked her gum. "Who's this geek?"

"My brother, the loon." Gaz introduced, and then hissed, "I think he was just leaving."

Dib sighed. This wasn't going to be a clean break. "Listen Gaz, Zim has invited us over so…"

"Oh, not this again!" Gaz groaned. "Couldn't you get normal friends? You know, some that won't involve in some idiotic get-together?"

"Yeah, get-togethers are dumb!" Mimicked one girl.

"Oh, and what do you call this?" Dib snapped at the group of scary girls.

One of the girls smiled. "I like your brother, he's cute."

Dib and Gaz both opened their mouths in disbelief. The girl giggles.

"Um…I think I change my mind. Let's go Dib."

**I didn't know how to end this, so take this and be happy!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A little short this chapter is. But don't worry, next one is on the way!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't friggin own IZ! LEAVE ME BE!**

Dib knocked Zims door, noticing halfway that the door was no longer resembling a restroom door. And the gnomes were missing as well.

Gaz crossed her arms. "I still don't get why I have to be here." She complained. "I don't even like Zim. In fact I hate him."

Dib sighed. "Gaz, just give him a chance…"

Gaz raised an eyebrow. "You mean backstab him? I saw the e-mail."

Dib felt his blood drain from his face. "Gaz…I…You…"

Gir answered the door before Dib could collect himself. The robot grinned like a fool as Gaz glared death into its eyes. "Gazzy!" Screamed Gir as he lurched forward for a hug.

Gaz spared no time kicking Gir to the other side of the room like a football. Dib groaned and let himself in. "Zim? Zim, we are here." He called out.

Gir, who was torn halfway into the wall, yelled out a muffled explanation. "Masta's sleepin'!"

"Sleeping? Irkens don't sleep…" Dib was interrupted when a buzzing sound from the kitchen. It was loud and screeching, and enough to make your ears bleed.

Gaz clamped her hands over her ears. "What is that horrible noise, it sounds like nails on chalkboard!"

Dib looked around franticly for the source to get rid of the noise. It seemed to be coming from the trashcan. "I think the elevator is broken!" He yelled.

The noise sputtered to a groan and a cry of frustration. "You blasted piece of junk! Now I have to climb to the top…AGAIN!"

Gaz sat herself at the couch. "Compared to Zims voice, I prefer the nails on chalkboard." She commented.

Zim scrambled out of the can, covered in banana peels, cursing. He peered over at the humans. "What are you looking at?" He snapped.

The sibling didn't say anything. Gir made grunting noises, trying to free himself. Zim brushed himself off and pointed at the table. "Sit down and act normal!"

Gaz snorted and crossed her arms. "I am not eating alien food."

"Its waffles!" Gir screamed.

"But that's for breakfast!" She protested.

"Eat the waffles, or starve to death!" Zim growled.

Dib sighed and looked at his sister. "Just humor him Gaz, its not like it will kill us…"

((Meanwhile, at the Membrane home))

Doctor Membrane pushed open the front door, and called for his children. His voice was rich with the relief of being home, and anticipation of seeing his children. The house was dark and empty. There were no sounds of television blaring or video games being played. It was all silent, no one was home.

"Daughter? Son? Your father is home!" He called out, now sounding worried. This was a strange new situation. The old man was so used to being hugged and drowned with questions about his whereabouts at the second he was home. Even his daughter, the loner, would never miss an opportunity to greet him.

Doctor Membrane chuckled to himself. "Ah, they must be upstairs. School just started, so they must be exhausted." He reasoned to himself. He went up and looked into their rooms. They were both empty. Not even the computer was on.

Now becoming a little more frightened, he grabbed the phone and dialed Dibs cell phone.

((Zims Base))

Dib felt his phone go off. He reached into his pocket to answer it, when Zim stopped him by pelting his hand with a muffin.

"Don't answer the phone at the dinner table, its very rude." Zim said in an overly rehearsed voice.

Dib sighed and set his phone to silent. "That's it Zim, we are replacing that TV with books."

((Membranes Home))

"Oh no, oh no!" Doctor Membrane panicked. "The boy isn't responding! Something awful must have happened!"

He ran down to his lab and to check the security footage. Along the way, he was mumbling possibilities of where his children could be. "Lets see, CPS? Oh goodness no, the robots I built proved more then capable to be able to take care of children…speak of the devil, where are those robots?"

In truth, Dib had shut them down. He grew tired of looking at a floating monitor, and was annoyed at how it was programmed to behave like his father. Besides, he did a well enough job without them.

Doctor Membrane watched the tape for today's date. He saw Gaz and Dib get up for school well enough, and as disturbed as to find out Dib was having nightmares about Zim; he didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Doctor Membrane fast-forwards it to when Gaz and Dib were supposed to be home from school. They never came. _They never came_.

"Kidnappers!" Membrane screamed to the top of his lungs as he dialed 911.

Parents, if there is one thing you can count on about them, is that they always overreact.


	9. Chapter 9

**Yeah, long update.**

**But this will be good, very good.**

**Yeah! Plot is moving along nicely!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Invader Zim**

Dib looked over at his sister and Zim. They both seem to be equally disgusted by Girs waffles, but seemed unwilling to disappoint the robot. It was then Dib decided to make his move.

"Zim, do you have a rest room I could use?" Dib asked politely. Zim eyed him.

"But you are already resting." Zim pointed out. Gaz snickered at the aliens' idiocy, earning a glare.

Dib sighed. "A bathroom Zim; I need to use a bathroom."

Zim scratched his head. "You mean like those awful rooms at school?"

"Yeah, do you have one?"

Zim shook his head no. "I have no use for one."

Dib became a little frustrated. He slumped in his chair, trying to figure out a way to explore Zims base without being suspicious. "Well, I'm full." Dib sighed. "Am I allowed to check my phone now?" He asked with mock respect.

Zim pushed back his plate. "Zim shall allow you."

Dib opened his cell phone to check his caller ID. His face fell. "Uh oh…"

Gaz opened one of her eyes and glared at Dib. "What happened?"

Dib looked at his sister. "That was Dad on the phone, I cant believe he picked now of all times to call!"

Zim rubbed his chin. "Zim doesn't see what the big deal…is" Gir then suddenly grabbed the phone and swallowed it.

"GIR!" Zim yelled.

Dibs first instinct was to yell at Gir, but then he got a wonderful idea. "That's all right Zim. Listen, Gir is already in his dog suit, I can take him home with me and take the phone out there."

Zim looked at Dib and studied him. "Yes, but…"

"It will be fun! Wont it Gir?"

Gir screamed and began to laugh. "I smell something FISHY!"

Gaz glared at Dib, knowing well what was happening. "Zim, I don't…"

Dib cut her off. "Lets go home Gaz, we must call Dad back to let him know we are alright."

Gaz growled. She hated to be interrupted. Zim pointed at his own phone which was hanging on the wall. "Dib-Stink, I have a phone right…"

"Oh, look at the time! BYE ZIM!" Dib carried Gir and pulled Gaz outside. Closing the door behind him, Dib let out an excited sigh.

Gaz opened one of her eyes and glared. "What are you up too?"

Dib smiled. "Nothing at all sweet sister!"

"I'm being kidnapped!" Gir screamed with glee and joy. Dib chuckled nervously and covered the robots mouth. He then rushed his sister home.

Meanwhile, Zim was left very confused in his kitchen. In a way, he liked the quiet. With Gir out for one night, Zim will be able to get some rest.

The Irken looked at the portrait of the Monkey, which was still hiding a TV set he used to contact his leaders. Under his breath, he cursed. "Those two jerks… Tell me the truth, but there was no reason to shut off my power…"

Exhausted, Zim laid himself on the couch. While Irkens could not sleep, they can go though a 'sleep mode' seeing how they are mostly computer. But it was only to be used when one did not have access to an energy core to recharge properly. 'Sleep mode' couldn't recharge an Irken completely, and Zim found himself shutting down more often.

He felt he should be suspicious of Dib, but his head just felt too clouded that night… Maybe nothing will happen.

Zim felt the familiar darkness pulling him in, and the fear brought with it.

As for Dib, Gir and his sister, they made it to their house alright. But they had a hard time getting to the front step, due to the swarm of FBI, Cops and random spectators.

"What are all these people doing here?!" Gaz yelled in rage. She shoved a man to the floor. "They fill my soul with rage!"

Feeling worried, mostly for people Gaz has threaten to massacre, Dib pushed past everyone and found his father in the middle of it all.

"Yes! If any of you have seen my son or daughter, contact myself or the police!" Said the famous scientist. Dib looked in amusement as his father showed a picture of himself and Gaz to the camera.

"Dad, I am right here." Dib said monotonously. "Get these people away from here before Gaz kills someone."

His father looked down at his son. Dib couldn't read his expression since his face was covered with those goggles and lab coat. Quickly, he motioned everyone out of the household, apologizing repeatedly for his foolish mistake.

It took a good hour for the Professor to get all the reporters and police out of his home. Gaz and Dib sat on the couch and waited for their father to finish. Gir was fast asleep on the floor.

Finally, their father stood in front of his children and sighed the longest sigh he ever sighed before. "Do you have any idea how worried you two have made me?" He spoke at last.

"Not really." Gaz grumbled.

Dib didn't answer.

Membrane sighed again. "I can't be home very often so…"

"Yeah, we've noticed." Dib said curtly.

Membrane looked at his son strangely, but spoke on. "I can't be home very often, so I get very stressed when I find when I do come home and find it empty. Neither of you left a note and I left plenty of messages on the robot of my coming here on this date."

"Dib shut off the robot months ago." Gaz explained.

The old man ran his fingers though his hair, something he did when confused. "Is this true son?"

Dib nodded. "It got annoying. And it wouldn't let us eat anything but beans and other canned foods."

Membrane laughed. "So what have you been eating all this time, fast food?"

Gaz snickered. "Dib was making our meals the whole time…in an apron."

Dib didn't know why that was so amusing; maybe it had something to do with it being the color pink.

However, the professor didn't think it was so funny. "That was very reckless son. What if you were to have gotten hurt? Or your sister for that matter?"

Dib looked at his feet, and avoided eye contact.

"Now tell me, where have you two gone this evening?"

Dib looked at Gir but remained silent. Gaz spoke up. "Dib was at Zims…"

"To give him some homework he missed when he was sick. Then I picked up Gaz and we walked around town, we would have come back sooner except we found a stray dog and took it home." Dib quickly interrupted Gaz, earning a very curious stare from both her and his father.

The professor nodded and looked at the sleeping robot. "I see. Well, I can't think of a reason why you two can't have a pet. But it's getting late, off to bed with you two."

Dib picked up Gir and followed Gaz up the stairs. But before he placed his foot on the first step, his father placed a hand on his shoulder. This sudden gesture made him freeze.

"Son," Membrane said in a low tone. "I know things are hard for you to understand. But I simply can't be at home as often as I should be, the world needs me!"

Dib stared into the goggles, trying to catch a glimpse of his fathers' eyes. It was strange, this man was the very one who brought Dib into this earth, yet he could not remember his eye color.

Dib hardened his stare and shook his head. "I don't even know you. I can't even trust you."

Membrane looked as if he wished to say something but it was too late. Dib had escaped his fathers grip and locked himself in his room. Setting Gir on the floor, he pulled out his cell phone.

"Hello, Dark Booty? Yes, it's Moth Man. I got something you might want to see. Send someone over to pick it up. …Morning? Sure, that'll be fine. …No, I can miss school for one day. It's not a big deal. …Cool, see you in the morning." Dib hung up and looked at the still sleeping Gir.

There wasn't any turning back now.


	10. Chapter 10

**It's storming now. Just when the RP's are getting good.**

**Oh well.**

**At least it got me writing.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own it!**

Dib had slept with out a dream or a nightmare. It was as if he blinked and suddenly it was morning. It was also nearly seven o' clock. He yawned and scuffled his way to the rest room to wash up. While he was brushing his teeth, he heard a scream.

Panicking, he raced downstairs to see Gir, sobbing like a child. Gaz had a box of pancake mix in her hand and a lit match in the other.

Dib sighed. "Gaz, what are you doing?"

Gaz glowered at the robot. "That thing touched my game. Now I will make it pay by destroying the one thing it loves."

Gir wailed louder. "No! My waffles! I love them! Gazzy no!"

Dib picked up Gir, whom began curl up in Dibs arms like a kitty. "Try not to excite him Gaz. The Swollen Eyeballs are picking him up today."

Gaz dropped the box or Pancake mix in shock. "You are going to do _what_?"

Dib sighed. "I told you many times before Gaz, don't act all surprised. This is my chance to expose Zim."

"Yeah, to save the world you moron! Now you are just bullying him!" Gaz snapped.

Dib raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you care?"

"Since…"

Membrane entered the room then, ending the argument. "Hello children! Sleep well?"

Dib stammered. "What are you still doing here?"

Membrane laughed. "Why, I have the day off today! Now, I called you both in sick today. I say its time we spend more time together!"

"Meow! Meow! I am made of CHEESE!" Gir screamed.

The room went silent. Membrane shakily pointed at Gir, who was still in a puppy suit. "Did that dog just…"

The door bell rung; most likely it was the Swollen Eyeballs. Dib chuckled. "That's my que. Sorry, dad, but I am going to be busy, have fun with Gaz."

Without saying a word, Dib opened the door to Dark Booty. "Hello son, so where is your proof?"

Dib removed the hood from Girs' head, revealing the robotic head. Dark Booty beamed with pride. "By golly Moth Man! What a catch, you will go down in history!"

Gir waved. "Hello Mr. Old man! Do you have pizza?"

"And it talks!"

Membrane hovered over his son and looked at the elderly man. "And who may this be?"

"You must be Dibs father!" Dark Booty exclaimed. "You have a very bright boy, determined as well. I am Conwell Washington. Your Dib will be leading us to an alien!"

Membrane was glaring through his goggles. "But there is no such thing!"

Dib looked at his father. "You'll see. Just wait when I come back!" He turns to Dark Booty. "Let's go."

Membrane waved pathetically as his son got in the car with Dark Booty.

Once inside, Gir started to giggle insanely. Dib had to cover its mouth to make it shut up.

"So," Dib said smiling. "Your name is Conwell Washington?"

"Yes, I rather dislike the name." Dark Booty sighed. Dib wondered how Dark Booty was a better name then Conwell Washington, but didn't comment.

They soon arrived at a large building painted in a sickly white. The windows were black, and there were guards all around. "What is this place?" Dib asked.

"Looks like a cookie!" Gir screamed.

"Excitable fellow, isn't he?" Dark Booty chuckled. "This is the Swollen Eyeball Headquarters. Be amazed boy, be amazed!"

"I am! I am!" Dib couldn't help but to smile.

Gir tugged at Dibs nose. "When can I go home?"

The smile faded. He looked to Dark Booty for help, but he didn't seem to notice.

Inside, there were people in white coats running this way and that. Many had papers and large folders. Dib was led to a room that had a steal table and tools you would find in an auto parts store. Gir jumped out of Dibs arms and began to chase a fly that was buzzing around in the room.

Dark Booty looked at his watch. "We'll have the others take care of Gir. You and I will go after that Zim character you kept babbling about."

"Babbling?" Dib asked, sounding offended.

"Don't get me wrong, but once you start ranting, it's impossible for you to stop."

"Oh."

"And you always end up talking to yourself. It's creepy."

"I get it Booty."

"You just go on and on and on and on and on…."

"I GET IT!"

"…And I haven't forgotten the Waffles."

Dib smacked his forehead. "Lets just go capture Zim, okay?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Wow! Two updated in one week?**

**I must be crazy or something…**

**And darn it, I am still ignoring my other stories…**

**DISCLAIMER: I own NOTHING!**

_The wind blew softly, as if it were gently urging Zim to hurry. He couldn't be late, this was far too important to miss!_

_Zim smiled as he ran, it was such a nice day. The two suns were shinning brightly, and the sky was a bright hue of pink. Strange blue creatures resembling a cross between dragonflies and butterflies fluttered past. Yes, there was truly nothing better then to be simply standing on the proud planet known as Irk._

_Everyone was gathering for the selection of the new Tallest. Only one of what may be billions upon billions of Irkens would be chosen, depending on height. It may seem like a strange custom, but it made perfect sense really._

_Irkens only grew because the control brains allowed them to. Height was considered a reward for great deeds in war or any other form of improving life for Irken life._

_Zim was born a defect, so it was much harder for him to gain height. Contently, he made mistakes. Had he been a little less selfish or maybe even successful in his plans, he would be as tall if not taller then everyone else._

_But he wasn't. He was barely taller then the minimum height. One inch shorter, and Zim would be assigned to be a drone for life._

_Still, the short, yet not too short, Irken hurried to the ceremony hopeful. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance…_

"_Hey! Zim!" Purple was standing by the front gates, waving Zim over. Not because he liked him, he was just… well, he was stupid. If given the chance, he would invite the devil himself to a cup of tea._

_Zim slowed to a walk, and stared in awe. "Hey… How did you get so tall?"_

_Purple opened his mouth to answer, when another Irken distracted him. "Hey! Red!" Purple waved him over the gates as well._

_Red, who was a self proclaimed genius, looked down at Zim. "What are you doing here?"_

_Zim was very trusting, but felt something off. "Wow Red! You got tall too! You two must have done something GREAT overnight! Something as great as ZIM!"_

_Purple laughed. "Actually, Red got him and me some illegal upgrades!"_

_Red promptly soccer punched Purple in the cheek. "I told you to keep quiet about that!"_

_Zim cocked his head to the side. "But that's cheating! You can get deactivated for that!"_

_Red brushed some dust off his shoulder. "Only if we are caught. And since you are in on it too, you can get punished too."_

_Purple gasped. "He can?"_

_Zim eyes widened. "I can?"_

_Red sneered. "That's right, so keep quiet about it. Because once Pur and I become Tallest, Irk will be feared across the universe! All other races are inferior! "_

_Purple nodded. "That's right! Immigration rights will be banned, Irkens will be known as the greatest of all conquerors! In fact, Red has planned to enslave other planets."_

_Zim shifted in his boots. The old Tallest would never allow this. Wasn't this… Wasn't this what people called racism?_

_But the fear of deactivation overwhelmed Zim, who was too young to handle the full data download of Irken morals and laws._

"_Okay Red, Purple. I won't say anything."_

_**Knock. Knock. Knock.**_

Zim groaned, barely awake. He felt too tired to answer the door. Maybe it was part of his dream… or was it a memory?

**Knock. Knock. Knock.**

Nope. It was for real. Zim shakily sat up. "I am not home!" He yelled.

**SLAM!**

Zim shot up to his feet, startled by the loud noise the door made as it fell to the ground. He looked at the intruders.

"Dib Monster! …erm…OLD MAN!" Zim pointed at the duo accusingly. "How dare you two damage my door?!"

"Great Lock Ness! A real alien, just as you said!" Dark Booty cried in utter shock. "Years of speculation and study, to think it never existed!"

Zim looks at Booty again and slowly began to digest the situation. "What… What is happening?"

Dib held up his tranquilizer gun up a little higher, yet not making eye contact. "You should have known this was coming Zim… There is just too much on the line, I can't back down!"

Zim began to growl as his antennae flattened against head. "You lied! You lied and… What have you done with Gir!?"

"Oh, he is at the lab; just where you're going next." Dib pressed his finger against the trigger. "We can do this the hard way or the easy way."

Zim felt a stir of emotions. Anger, hate, guilt, betrayal… it was enough to drive a man mad. He lunged for Dibs throat, ready to tear it out. Dib took a step back and fired a shot in the neck. However, it didn't slow the fall. Zim felt darkness take over again as he fell to the floor hard. He clawed at the ground to get up, to get away, anything!

Dib kneeled next to Zim and placed a hand on his arm. "It's useless Zim. I told you before; it is you against billions of humans. I… I couldn't just…" Dib couldn't find the words.

Zim began to feel very sleepy; it was hard to keep his eyes open. But he still managed to say one last thing.

"I should not of kept quiet…"


	12. Chapter 12

**(SCREAMS)**

**Baka! Baka, baka, BAKA!**

**I am so stupid! I absentmindedly deleted the original chapter for this!**

**(Screams again)**

**Now I have to re-type this!**

**BAKA!**

**ALSO! There is a spoiler. It may be for this chapter, it may not. Read and out.**

**SPOILER: Character death! But who? And when? And how? And why? And…**

**Disclaimer: NO I don't own it! I may delete IZ if I did! BAKA!**

It was a quiet ride back to the building. Dib stared out the window as Dark Booty fiddled with the radio. It was beginning to rain as well. Zim was in the back, seemingly asleep. Booty said the chemicals would not kill him unless he had a severe reaction to it.

No one said anything, not when Booty Parked. Not when they transported Zim into the holding cell.

Dib waited in the break room for Zim to wake up. The clock seemed to be going slower then usual. A little while after, while Dib was lost in his own thoughts, a tall blonde woman walking in with a cup of hot chocolate.

"How are you Dib?" She asked giving him the cup. Dib looked at her.

"Who are you?" Dib felt a little cold, so he took the drink with much gratitude.

The woman smiled. "I work with the swollen eyeball network."

Dib took a sip and set the cup on the desk. "I realize that miss. But I was wondering what your name was."

The woman laughed. "Of course you did. You can call me Lock."

"Lock?"

"As in Lock Ness."

"Oh." Dib looked around. "Has Zim woken up yet?"

The woman shrugged. "That's what I came to talk to you about. He hasn't. He is still alive, but the sedative should have worn off by now."

Dib thought for a moment. "I don't know what's going on. Maybe… Do you think he is having a reaction?!"

Lock shook her head. "He might. It's not a very severe reaction though. Chances are he may never wake up."

"…I see."

"Disemboweled Head wants your consent before the autopsy."

Dib stayed quiet.

"If you don't give permission, you will be kicked out of the network."

"What!"

"It is called conflict of interests."

Dib shook his head. "Alright, alright. But not yet, give Zim a chance to wake up first."

"But Zim may never…"

"We can wait a week, cant we? Besides, you guys need to observe his behavior patterns."

Lock thought about it. "That seems reasonable. Alright, but only for one week."

Dib was left alone again. He thought about Zim. It would be pointless to see him now. So he decided to go after Gir.

Gir was in a room with a bunch of lab coats. The lead scientist was scribbling on a clipboard. The others were murmuring amongst themselves.

"_Amazing!"_

"_A robot with AI!"_

"_Such a waste…"_

"_Shame its so…"_

"_Stupid?"_

"_Yes."_

Gir sat there absentmindedly and had his tongue sticking out. Dib walked in the room and looked at the scientists. "Any reports?"

"The robot, Gir, seemed to be made up with different parts, used parts. Its CPU is made up with pure garbage, it's is a mystery how it still is able to function. However, despite all the flaws, 'Gir' seemed to be well cared for. The upgrades are amazing!"

Dib nodded. "What will you guys do with him…? I mean it."

"Well, the robot is insane. It may be dangerous to have it run about. We are going to turn it off."

"You mean destroy it?"

"What? Oh, no. It would be completely idiotic to do that. We just need to store it away so we can focus on the alien."

"Good." Dib turned to leave. "Autopsy's in a week."

Just then, Lock ran into the room. "Moth Man! The alien! He woke up!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Ooo, this is a very tasty chapter!**

**Yes.**

**The angst! Let it consume you!**

**(Crackles evilly)**

**And I love the reviews! Everyone hates Dib now!**

**Dib: Thanks Doma. (Glares)**

**Welcome!**

**Anyway, make sure to keep reviewing me, it encourages me to update faster!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Invader Zim!**

"_Worthless"_

"_Useless"_

"_Defect"_

"_Don't talk"_

"_Don't speak"_

"_Not your place"_

"_Everyone hates you!"_

"_No one loves you"_

"_Better off dead"_

"_JUST DIE!"_

Zim woke with a scream, and pulled against his restraints. He didn't know where he was, he barely remembered who _he_ was. The men in white where yelling at him, told him to be still.

"Let go of me! Let go of me!" Zim screamed at them, feeling threatened. The men in white placed their hands on Zim and held him down. Zim attempted to use his PAK, but it wouldn't work. They had disabled the weapons. That only made Zim scream louder, his heart, whatever pumped the blood though his veins, was beating twice as hard.

"Zim, stop it!" Yelled a voice. Zim froze and the men in white let go of Zim. The small Irken looked up, and saw Dib.

Dib looked stressed. "Zim, you need to calm down! If you fight, they will put you to sleep again, and you may never wake up."

Zim stared at Dib with utter rage. And yet, his voice was calm and even. "I thought you didn't care. You just want to cut me up! What does it matter if I am asleep or dead even?"

"You have a week! You have one more week to live! Don't be a fool and waste it!"

"_Waste it_? You idiot! You have me locked up in a room! My PAK won't work! You want me to enjoy this? You are sick!"

Dib took a step back. "Zim, I…."

"I hate you! I trusted you, I was a fool! You…You are worthless!"

Rage filled Dib. He lunged at Zim; one of the adults had to grab him and pulled him back.

"I am not worthless! Once I show them, once I show the world what you are, they will know that! I will be accepted!"

Zim looked at Dib in the eye. He looked at the boy, not with rage, but with pity.

"…Accepted?" Zim said in such a quiet tone, no one heard him. And if they did, they may not have understood him.

Dib looked at Zim and glared. "Stop looking at me like that!"

Zim felt an ach and suddenly felt the need to lie down. "If… If you prove I am an alien to the public, you will be accepted?"

Dib looked away and the other scientists left the room sensing that they shouldn't be there for that moment.

There was an eerie silence. No one said anything for what seemed for like hours. It was almost none of this was happening. Almost like a dream.

Zim looked at his hands. They were numb due to the restraints he was under. "Don't let them hurt Gir."

Dib looked up. "What?"

"Do what you want, but don't let them hurt Gir. Give him to Gaz even, that thing has some sort of attachment to her."

"Zim…" Dib looked at him, but Zim wasn't looking back. He seemed lost in his own thoughts. Dazed even, he was no longer the proud Irken that crashed into Dibs life the year before.

"I can't save myself, even if you do set me free. But you…"

Dib couldn't hear anymore. "What are you saying?"

"…You still have hope. This is what you want, isn't?"

"Shut up Zim!"

"Why are you getting angry? This is what you wanted!"

"Shut up Zim! _Shut up_!"

Dib didn't give Zim to talk back. He ran out of the room on the brink of tears. "That jerk, THAT JERK!" He screamed.

Dark Booty saw him in the hall and tried to stop him, but Dib ran past him. He ran out the door and kept running outside until he slowed to a walk.

"That jerk…" Dib wasn't sure why he was calling Zim a jerk anymore. He wasn't sure of anything. He slowly began to chuckle to himself. "I am such an idiot. Zim gave up. This should be a good thing! Who case what are his reasons, he gave up!" Dib felt a tear go down. "Damn it, stop crying! He gave up! Everyone believes you now!"

Dib kept walking, but his knees kept shaking. "This…This is what I wanted…"

"Son?"

Dib looked up, to see his own father standing before him. Dib lost it and ran into his arms. Surprised, Membrane held his son as he would when he was younger. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Zim, he… I…." Dib clung onto his father. "I hate this! I don't know what to do!"

Membrane pulled away his son and kneeled to his height. He had his hands on Dibs shoulders. "Son, I think its best we go home."


	14. Chapter 14

**HOLD THE PHONE!**

**Is this another update?**

**(Gasps)**

**And is this story almost complete?**

**Maybe…**

**But will this have a happy ending? Will this have a sad ending?**

**Or maybe…**

**Oh, and if character death makes you squirm, turn back now. Find some happy story where Zim gets high off of coffee and Dib is wearing makeup.**

**Personally, I like stories where Zim just gets high and mush battle with the pain of resisting the addiction.**

**Then Dib helps him by locking him in a room.**

**I think I'd just be happy with locking Zim in a room…**

**Whatever. Enjoy this story. It's drug free!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Invader Zim!**

Zim sat alone in to room; unable to move. He wasn't sure he would if he could. Although, there was a chance Zim might have had asked his computer to get something safe to drink.

That boy can give such a headache…

Meanwhile, at the Membranes home; the professor was heating up some tea for his children. It was getting late, the sun was already down. Gaz sat across from Dib holding a stuffed animal of demonic pig. Dib figured his father must have bought it for her while he was out.

Dib looked at his father, although he had his back turned to him. "Dad?"

He father stayed silent for a while. But he spoke. "I'd have to say son. In my whole life, I have never heard a story like yours. I wish I had taken the time to look at your photos sooner."

He was referring to the proof Dib showed him earlier. As soon as they arrived at home, Membrane had asked Dib to show him the photos Dib said he took. He was very surprised at the sudden request, but did as he was told.

He was even more dumbfounded when his father actually took him seriously for the first time. Gaz was watching from the background with a slight interest during all this. She for once was enjoying something other then a violent video game.

And once Dib felt his father was not just humoring him, he felt more open about talking to him about his problem. How Zim had trusted him, how he went behind his back and broke his promise. How in just a few days, strangers in white coats will be slicing him up in tiny pieces.

"What should I do? I waited my whole life for this, and now I am not even sure I even want it anymore." Dib groaned as he set his head on the table. "I practically wasted my entire childhood for this."

Gaz snorted and hugged her new toy. "No one asked you to waste your childhood. You were just born stupid."

"Now daughter, that is enough. Dib has been though enough and doesn't require anymore criticism. What he need now is answers, and with real science, anything is possible!"

"What are we going to do, throw super toast at them?" Gaz asked sarcastically.

Membrane gasped. "Do not defy the toast!"

"That's great, but does that mean we are breaking Zim out?"

Membrane scratched his head. "No. I suppose not. This is Dibs' call really."

Dib took his cup of tea and sipped it. "I don't know… Zim is just sitting there. He isn't like himself; he is practically unafraid of the blade anymore. He said it was too late for him."

"Too late for what?" Gaz asked.

"I don't know, but it has something to do with his leaders." Dib sighed. "They banished him. He doesn't have a home. He doesn't even have a planet to call home."

Membrane sat down. "I will be very honest Dib. In my years, I had cut up many animals and humans."

"Humans?!" Dib chocked on his tea, burning his tongue.

Membrane chuckled. "Relax, it is perfectly normal. People would donate their bodies for the sake of science. It is almost as customary as asking to be an organ donor. Although, the whole ordeal is still a very disturbing experience."

"Gross! I want to be a scientist!" Gaz exclaimed.

The boys gave her a disturbed look, but Membrane continued.

"Anyway, I have performed many autopsies on many organisms. Some I had never seen before. And each one had benefited mankind in one way or another. "

Dib nodded. "I see. So you are saying Zims body may benefit humans in some way."

"Exactly. But, then, Zim isn't some animal, he can think. To you, he is an alien from some intelligent race from beyond. To him, _you _are the alien."

Dib froze. He never thought of it that way. What was stopping Zim from cutting_ him _up all these years?

Membrane took a sip of his tea and sighed. "And on top of that, Zim was the closest thing you had to a friend. I never once seen you play with other children your own age. I never had the kind of relationship you have with Zim with any of my own experiments."

Dib paused. He looked at Gaz. She seemed to have lost interest in the conversation a long time ago. She looked half asleep.

Dib thought for a few moments and looked at his father. "You are pretty smart for a guy who is obsessed with toast."

Membrane laughed. "And you are just paranoid."

"…Wait, _what?"_

"Have you made you choice? I won't choose for you."

Dib drummed his fingers for a few moments. "I _must_ be crazy. But yeah, I made my choice."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

**((Several hours later))**

Zim felt himself drifting into sleep. To stop himself, he bit the inside of his cheek. It was dark now. They had turned off the lights, and Zim could not see a thing in the dark. Or maybe the lights were on, and he didn't have the energy to see anymore?

"Irk," he whispered. "I need to get to a power source."

He then heard the door open. Zim winced. Since Dib left, the scientists have been drawing blood. Sample after sample. His arm was raw from the needles, and he knew it was sonly going to get worse.

"Hey!"

Zim antennas perked up. "That whinny voice!"

Dib growled. "I told you before, my voice isn't whinny!" He said in a harsh whisper.

Zim paused. "Wait…Ah for the love of Irk! I am blind!

"Wait, what? No, the lights are off. I am breaking you out!"

Zim raised an 'eyebrow' in confusion. "Have you the brain maggots? You have more mood swings then an earth female!"

"Shut it space boy."

Zim smirked. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Move now, talk later."

"You felt guilty, didn't you?" The smirk grew wider.

"Do you want me to leave?"

Zim pouted. "No. Free Zim."

Dib took out a shinny little key and unlocked Zims arms and legs. "Can you walk?"

"No, you have to carry me."

"Zim!"

Zim got up on his feet and rubbed his wrists. "Joking. As if I'd let you carry Zim."

"This isn't a good time to joke!"

"Zim never jokes"

Dib resisted the urge to kill Zim. He silently thanked whoever was in the higher power for not being caught yet. No alarms have been tripped. Most viewed the Eyeball network as a joke so there was very few break in, thus, less security. But what security was there was fierce.

"This way." Dib snuck down the hall, avoiding the glare of the cameras. "Whatever you do, don't step in the red lights."

Zim nodded and followed without fighting for leadership. "I am going to kill you later, you realize that?"

Dib sighed. "Unfortunately, yes."

Zim pointed ahead. "There is the exit! Stop lagging and hurry you filth!"

Dib pushed open the doors without a second thought. But the moment he did, a horn blared, nearly causing deaf to the boys. "RUN!" Dib yelled, pulling on Zims arm. Zim yelped in pain but didn't pull away. How can he? They were already scampering down the street under moonlight.

There was no time to think, just running. Fear filled them as the sounds of dogs and angry guards poured out of the building. Zim sorely wished he could use his pak, but it was still disabled. Then, a thought stuck him.

"Gir!" Zim skitter to a stop, causing Dibs arm to nearly be dislocated.

Dib breathed heavily, and refused to let go of Zims arm. "Gir is fine! He is in my book bag!"

Zim looked at the bulging book back and felt a heavy wave of relief as he caught sight of a small metallic hand hanging out.

"_Let's go_! We don't have time to stop!"

Zims arm was numb by the time dib crashed though the front door. Gaz was in a rain jacket with a little book bag that seemingly was filled with clothes and was hugging the demonic piggy closely to her chest.

Membrane rushed into the room and quickly hugged Dib. "I called Simons to send over a helicopter. It will fly us someplace safe."

"We have to hurry; the guards are on the way!"

Gaz looked out the door, but the professor protectively pulled her out of the way and shut the door.

Zim too was able to feel the tension. For once in his life, he felt helpless. Not even when he was trapped in that room had he felt such fear. Without his PAK, he was as helpful as any other human that he spoke so passionately about.

"Come, we will wait in the backyard!" Membrane hurried his children along with Zim.

Once being out of the house, Dib looked up at his father. He had his goggles off. His eyes were a dark blue, and were darting across the sky, looking for any sign of hope.

The sounds of the dogs grew louder, but so did another sound…

Gaz pointed to the sky. "The helicopter is here!"

The mood seemed to brighten as the large flying machine came in from the distance. It was so close; the small family could feel the air blowing though their hair.

"Dib, here is you bag. I…"

The sound was deafening. Fire filled the sky as the aircraft fell in a ball of screaming metal, flame lapped up in every crevice of machine. The whole thing fell, nearly landing on the family.

The terror and shock was unbearable.

Gaz let out a scream and clung onto her father. Dib braced himself against the wall of the house, looking away from the destruction. Zim looked the humans, partly in wonder. Mostly because he felt like he should do something…

There was an eerie silence, save for the crackling of the flames.

Then there was gun fire.

And the sound of a scream.


	15. Chapter 15

**You are wondering, 'who died?'**

**Time to find the truth!**

**Fan: I want the truth!**

**Me: You can't handle the truth!**

**Fan: Curse you!**

**DISCLAIMER: I own NOTHING!**

Zim quickly turned around when he heard the gun shot. At first, it seemed nothing had happened. But time seemed to slow down to a creeping pace as Membrane gripped his chest and dropped to the ground. Gaz had scream, never letting go of her father.

The blood poured out, and the once proud eyes that never missed a answer for a formula grew dim. Zim heard Dib choke.

The voice grew louder, Zim saw the guards racing out the yard though the house. They were the ones who shot Membrane. There was no time to morn.

Dib raced to his fathers' side, but Zim stopped him. "There isn't time! Gaz Human, we have to go, _now_!"

Gaz looked at her father, and at the guards. Not wasting a second, she ran to her brother, who seemed completely traumatized.

Zim was the only sane one left; it seemed so ironic at the time.

The alien pulled the children to the garage, and slammed the doors closed. "Hurry up and start Taks' ship!"

"I…I can't."

Zim looked at Dib as if he were completely insane. "_Why not_?"

Dib pointed at the ship. "It stopped working a week ago, these error messages keep popping up!"

Zim pulled of the dust cover that was used to keep the ship hidden and opened the hatch. "Well, if we can't use this ship, it's the after life for us!"

Gaz looked up at Zim. "You know how to fix it?"

"I can try."

Zim crawled into the cockpit and opened his PAK. A long wire came out of the small machine and attached itself to the controls of the ship. The entire ship began to whirr to life.

"Can you hurry Zim?" Dib asked with a fearful tone. The guards knew where they were now; they were attempting to break down the garage door with something heavy.

"Come out of there Moth Man, we know you are in there! Unless of course; you want to end up like your father!"

Dib covered his ears. "I know that voice, its Disemboweled Head. He is one of the guys from the Network."

Gaz shoved her brother. "You said they were the good guys! You said we could trust them!"

Dib heard the sounds of guns reloading. He looked at the steel gate that was separating them from his sister, Zim and himself.

"_And now we are going to die_!"

Acting quickly, Dib picked up his sister, who was completely unprepared for this, and threw her into the ship. He heard the guns fire, and franticly climbed in the ship, fearful for his life. But he wasn't fast enough. He let out a scream as a bullet clipped him in the leg.

"Dib Human, are you alright?!" Zim was still working on the controls. Holographic Irken letters were hovering above his PAK. Zim was typing away on… something. Dib was amazed how little he knew about Irken machinery. This wasn't even Zims' ship and even he knew more about it the Dib got ever figure out on his own.

Dib swallowed. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Gaz looked at her brothers' leg and back at Zim. "Is this thing ready yet?!"

Zim narrowed his eyes. "Almost. I just need a little more time!"

Dib heard another voice, but dared not to exit the Voot.

"Disemboweled Head, what are you doing?" The voice sounded strained, and worried. "It's just a little boy, lower your guns!"

"Dark Booty." Dib strained to listen.

Disemboweled Head spoke again. "Move out of the way Conwell! This 'little boy' just released a dangerous alien back into the public! Or have you forgotten all the weapons we dug out of its base, the human subjects in the labs, hell, have you forgotten that 'little boy's' constant rants?"

Dark Booty countered. "Never the less, you just killed an innocent man! A proclaimed scientist who saved us from diseases and famine! Why must you always turn you violence? There is a better way!"

"What, talking? If you are siding with _them, _then you will die with them!"

"DH, wait!"

Dib winced as he heard gunfire and the soft 'thump' of a body.

Zim pressed a large red button and the ship began to levitate. "Brace yourself!"

The hatch was automatically closed and the ships boosters glowed with power. The ship was pushed to full throttle as it was driven straight though the garage door, crumbling it as if it were cheap paper.

The bullets hit the ships exterior, but to no avail. Higher and high they flew, until they could no longer hear the bullets or see the fire.

The wire from Zims PAK recoiled back to where it belongs. Zim let out a heavy sigh and relaxed his grip.

"Dib…"

Dib looked at the alien and saw how exhausted he was. He looked as if he could hardly sit up straight.

"Take the controls…"

Without warning, the alien fell over to the floor of the Voot. Dib felt the ship losing control and quickly took over. It was Gaz who pulled him towards the back.

Dib got the ship steady and looked for something to land on. A small island was spotted in the middle of the ocean. "Gaz, we are landing. Is Zim okay?"

Gaz looked at Dib. "He is breathing. But he is really pale."

The landing was soft, as it was on sand. Dib opened the hatch and looked out at the sun setting. The light made the sky a beautiful pink and red, and the water looked so inviting. Dib let out a heavy sigh. "How can so many bad things happen on such a nice day…I mean evening."

He helped Gaz carry Zim out, despite the fact he could barely walk, and laid him out on the sand. Zim was twitching, but still conscious.

"Zim? Zim, what is happening to you? Are you sick?" Dibs voice was ragged and filled with stress from the earlier events.

Zim cracked open his eyes. Instead of the bright red eyes he was expecting, they were a light pink and glazed over. "Dib?"

"Zim! What happened to your eyes?"

Gaz looked away, silent now. She was shaking, her hair was messy.

Zim blinked a few times and struggled to sit up. But he fell back over himself.

"What is wrong with you?!" Dib was yelling, sounding scared.

Zim calmly took a breath, and smirked. "I am out of energy. My PAK is converting my power to the basics such as breathing and shutting down everything else. Including my eyesight."

"…What?"

"You heard me."

Gaz suddenly slapped Zim. Dib looked at her bewildered. "Gaz!"

"Damn it, not you too! Don't you dare die too!"

Zim frowned. "I am not dead yet human! And who slapped me?!"

Dib chuckled. "You haven't changed completely." He said quietly.

Gaz glared at Dib, but Dib only shrugged. "This isn't a big deal." He stated. "All we need is to get Zim to a power source."

Zim closed his eyes, as they were useless now. "Not quite."

Dib looked at Zim curiously. "What do you mean?"

"The power on this planet, it is not compatible with my PAK. Trust me, I tried. I have the burn marks to prove it." Zim sighed tiredly. Then something caught his attention. "Why is my hand wet?"

Dib looked down to see a small puddle of blood. It wasn't anything serious, but now his leg was aching horribly. "It's nothing Zim; I just got clipped in the leg."

"There should be a first aid kit in the Voot." Zim lifted his arm and placed it over his chest. There was an obvious facial expression of disgust, mostly because he was touching blood.

"We can't stay here, can we?" Gaz said, sighing. "I am taking a wild guess and say we are going to Irk."

"What choice do we have? Now we are considered terrorists." Dib moaned. "But then, we can't even go to Irk. Zim is forbidden to go there, remember?"

Zim thought for a moment and an all knowing smirk crawled across his face. "We won't go to Irk."

"Are you crazy? You look like you are going to pass out any second!"

"I never said we weren't getting help."

Zim has got a plan.


	16. Chapter 16

**Ahh…**

**Another chapter, another day**

**Let us move on with the story shall we?**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing!**

Zim had given Dib strict orders to place the Voot on autopilot. The trio was piled in the Voot, leaving behind Earth and all its flaws and beauties.

Dib was at the controls, not touching anything unless Zim told him too. His job was to make sure to tell him if anyone was trying to make contact or if he were to see another alien spacecraft. He had wrapped his leg very tightly before leaving. He silently hoped to find medical help before it becomes infected.

There was a wide empty floor in the back. Gaz had taken out a blanket out of her bag to wrap Zim in it to keep him warm. Then Zim told her it was useless because Irkens couldn't make heat like humans and that she was an idiot.

Then Gaz slapped him again, telling him not to insult her or else she would peel off his skin and feed it to the bears.

Dib felt a need to remind Gaz that there were no bears in space, but kept quiet.

So the blanket was being used as a pillow for Zim and Gaz was sitting on a tool box, looking at some alien device. She had left her game behind, but knew better to complain about it.

Dib had asked Zim where the ship was going. Zim told him that the coordinates were set for Irk.

Dib raised an eyebrow. "You said we weren't going to Irk."

Zim chuckled. "A direct route to Irk is considered suicide. The rebels should catch us in an hour."

Despite Dibs' protests, he was later convinced that this was the only way. The universe was divided into those who fought with the Irkens, and those who didn't.

Dib attempted to lighten the mood by starting up a conversation, but it proved as a bad idea. Zim was too tired and Gaz was… well, just Gaz.

A good hour had passed. Dib touched his leg and winced. The blood was soaking though the cloth. He wondered if this was all a bad idea. "Zim, what if we don't get caught?" Dib asked. He didn't get a response. He turned around to see why. Gaz was asleep in corner, with her knees tucked to her chest. The little pig toy was sitting innocently next to Gaz, red glass eyes peering across the floor.

Zim was lying on the floor unmoving. His eyes were closed and his hands were neatly placed over his chest.

"Zim?" He called out a little louder, careful not to wake his sister. He rested all his weight on the wall of the voot and wobbled to his feet. He little out a small whine as the pain shot up his spine, but remained on his good leg. "Zim, are you…"

The ship began to vibrate and rattle. It wasn't much at first, but the turbulence was enough for Dib to fall onto the floor. He bit the inside of his cheek so he wouldn't scream, but a tear ran down his face. He felt weak. The heroes in the story books had it much worse and never cried. Vainly, he wiped it off his face with his sleeve.

The ship began to rattle a little more, this time, a lot louder. An ear piercing screech sounded out the ship. Dib yelped and covered his ears. Gaz up sitting up confused about her surroundings. Dib looked at Zim for a reaction. He got none. "Zim! Something is happening!"

Zim remained still. Desperate, he placed a hand on the aliens' chest. But he could feel no breathing or a pulse.

"Dib…" Gaz scuffled away from the wall, still dazed and half asleep. Dib looks at her and the wall. The wall was smoking. The Voot was on fire, something went wrong with the mechanics, or so it seemed at first…

Dib felt the ship slam into something. Not once, but twice, three times. Dib sprawled across the floor, desperately trying to get up. He inhaled the smoke and heard his sister yelling for help. "Gaz…" He opened his eyes to see nothing but smoke. He reached up his arm and shook Zims chest. Still, there was no response.

Dib heard the metal tear apart. Something, _something_ was trying to get in. He felt the ship crash against something flat, a planet? No, there were no planets anywhere near where they were. But it was useless to look out the window. Desperately, he took his good leg and leaned on it to get into a kneeling position.

He hears the hatch being forced open and an angry voice. Dib then saw the out line of his sister. "Gaz, get down!"

Using the last bit of strength he had, Dib threw himself on her, pushing her into the corner as far as he could. Gaz wanted to badly to yell at him to get off. But chances are, he had a good reason to.

The angry voice melted into a language the humans can understand. And with the hatch open, the smoke began to clear.

"Narr! Lard Narr! You were wrong; there is just one Irken here, and it looks dead! And…" The outlined figure caught sight of Dib. "Well, what do we have here?"

"S…Stay away!" Dib said weakly. The figure keeled down and looked at the boy in the eyes. The alien had dark red eyes and a large monstrous body. It seemed to be a cross from a bull dog and a T-Rex, and yet, had the functions of a human.

"One… oh! Two! Two little aliens!" The grinned, showing its' sharp yellow teeth. "Two little unidentified aliens!"

Gaz glared at the monster was a hateful stare. "Touch me and I will make you regret it!"

The alien looked hurt. "Aw don't be so mean. We are the good guys!"

Dib looked at Zim and at the much larger alien. "Are you the Resisty?"

The alien smirked. "With them, yes. And since there is an Irken on your ship, that makes you the bad guys."

Dibs face fell. "But we are not with Irk! And Zim isn't either, at least not anymore."

The monsters eyes trailed down to the puddle of blood. "Is that your blood?"

Dib nodded.

"You are losing too much of it."

Dib shuddered. He felt Gaz tighten her grip on his arm. "He needs help. And Zim needs power."

The monster didn't say anything. He looked at Zim, who was on his side now, mostly likely was thrown about during the attack. He simply picked him up and slung the limp body across his shoulder. Before exiting, he gives a look at the children. "I don't know much about Irkens, but I think he is dead."

Dib felt himself fall into darkness.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

**o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Dib slowly opened his eyes to see a white ceiling. By the feel of the thin blankets, he guessed he was in a hospital of sorts.

He silently hoped it was all a dream. That he just hit his head against something and dreamt the whole thing up.

He sat up and removed the blankets. His leg had fresh clean medical wraps.

"Dib?"

Gaz was sitting next to Dibs bed, still clinging onto the little stuffed pig demon. She stood up and smiled.

Dib was about to say something when the little smiles of hers turned into a scowl. She began to smack Dib senselessly with the pig.

"Ow, ow, ow! Gaz; quit it!" Dib started to swat his sister away, but she wasn't budging.

"You moron, first you were dumb enough to get shot, but you couldn't even wrap your wounds right! Do you have any idea how long I had to wait just so I could hit you? DO YOU!?"

If it weren't for the fact Gaz was giving Dib fresh bruises, he would have taken that as worry.

An odd figure walked into the room. "What is going on in here?"

Dib stopped what he was doing to stare. It was another alien, but he looked like a freakish goat without fur. "Oh…wow."

He took a small bow of interdiction. "You made call me Lard Narr. Your sister Gaz had already introduced yourself to me. Of course, you were unconscious then."

Dib shook his head in disbelief. "This is happening. This is really happening. I am in space, with a bunch of aliens!"

Gaz smacked him across the head again. "Get over yourself."

Lard Narr coughed for attention. "I suppose you wish to know about that Irken then?"

If Dib could reach, he would have shaken the goat man like a rag doll and yell: Hell ya!

But he couldn't. So he nodded politely. He was handed a walking stick to walk more comfortably.

Halfway out the door, Dib commented on the larger, scarier looking alien. "I thought Zim was… well you know."

Narr laughed. "You mean Tex? That over grown doofes don't know diddly squat about Irken biology."

"So he is okay." Dib allowed a breath of relief.

"Never said he was okay." Narr said simply.

"They are going to call the Tallest." Gaz growled. "Even after I threatened that I would tear them limb by limb."

Dib blinked. "Call the Tallest? Zims' leaders? Why?"

"This is a war! Where have you been, living on a meteor?" Narr snapped. "Any an all Irkens must be questioned. And if any are caught in our grasps, we must interrogate them. Of course, they have to be alive to be interrogated…"

"So you had no choice but to fix him!"

"Sly devil this one is. Manipulating the system for his own benefit. And on top of that, he isn't even an Invader! A defect! We have an exiled freak!" Narr ranted.

Dib growled. "Don't talk about Zim that way! You don't even know him!"

Narr smirked. "I know him better then you ever will." Narr pointed at looked door and held up a security key card.

"Now… Do you want to stand out here all day, or have some questions answered?"


	17. Chapter 17

**Here is the latest chapter!**

…

**I can not think of anything witty to say.**

**Well, just enjoy the chapter!**

**Oh! And sorry for the lack of updates; I have a job so I don't have a lot of time like I used to.**

**Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own ANYTHING!**

"What are you talking about? Let me see Zim!" Dib protested. He had no interest of what was behind that door. He just wanted to see_ him_.

Lard Narr chuckled.

Gaz looked at her feet. "Trust me Dib. You want to see this."

Dib looked at his sister strangely and shrugged. "Fine, but I want to see Zim right after."

Lard Narr opened the room to reveal a dark room glowing with thick wires and computer screens. Dib couldn't tell if the room was big or small because all the machinery hardly left room for him to even walk.

"This, my humans, is simply a storage room. My species is very advanced, even created automatic translators. It's the very reason we are able to communicate with you. If I turn it off, my words will be bloody useless to your ears."

"That's great." Dib said. "What does that have to do with Zim?"

Lard Narr smirked. "Your little friends' leaders had stolen our technology and banned my kind from Irk. And why: Because we are not Irkens. And to top it all off, all their weapons were _our_ weapons. All their ships were _our_ ships." Narr stopped walking and glared at Dib. "And Zim could have stopped it. But he didn't."

Dib raised an eyebrow. "Please, how can one Irken start, or stop a whole war?"

Narr changed the subject slightly and pointed at a rather large cord. "That leads straight to the room Zim is being kept. All the energy in that wire is going straight to his Pak."

Dib stares at it. The very wire was larger then his bed. "That's… pretty big."

"No duh" Gaz snipped. "Narr already told me part of the story. He and Zim used to be friends."

Dib looked at Lard Narr, utterly shocked. "What?"

Narr had a faraway look in his eyes. "That was a very long time ago. Zim was sent to me as a student. He really was a defective, couldn't stop destroying everything in sight. But he was a bright lad, even if standing in the same room as him meant risking your life."

Dib scratched his head. "But why did you bring us into this room?"

Narr pushed some cords away. "Because human, this is where I keep my pet." He pulled out a glass jar that held a chubby little worm. It had big black eyes. At the sight of Dib and Gaz, it smiled openly. Dib stared at all the little teeth and sharp forked tongue.

"What is that thing?"

"His name is Chubs. And Zim created him. It is an IEAB." Narr said. He looked up, seeing the confusion in the boys' eyes. "It is an acronym for Infinite Energy Absorbing Blob. It swallowed my own invention, the Infinite Energy Producing Machine. It grew and grew. Zim lost control of it and it ate up the pervious Tallests."

"Zim killed off his old leaders." Gaz stated. "And with no leaders, there cannot be a proper punishment. Zim didn't get executed."

Dib nodded, never taking his eyes off the evil little worm.

Narr sighed. "The blob ate and ate, until it got sick. So it shrank and shrank. The machine it swallowed will continue to feed it. Chubs will never go hungry. So it no longer had a reason to absorb anything anymore."

Dib connected the pieces. "And because the old Tallest were dead, Irk elected Red and Purple. And they started the war!"

Narr shook his head. "If it were that simple, I wouldn't be resisting the urge to walk into the other room and stabbing a million holes in his Pak."

"I am guessing there is more to the story." Dib said dryly.

Narr nodded. "The control brains, a network of highly advanced computers, they began the selection for the new Tallest. Red and Purple had been Zims friends… or that at least, is what Zim told me at the time."

"His FRIENDS? But they banished him!" Dib protested. "They made his life miserable!"

Narr shrugged. "That's Irkens for you. But that's how it is." He gently tucked the worm back into its hiding place. "After the election, Zim told me that Red and Purple cheated. They used upgrades. Enraged, I confronted the two. Except now they were Tallests now, so they had the power of persuasion. I was called a liar and was banished soon after. I expected Zim to back me up or at least told someone else in power, tell the Control Brains. But he didn't. He kept quiet and what worse; he began sucking up to them."

"He turned his back on you." Gaz said.

Lard Narr crossed his arms and growled. "And now the new Tallests are making a mess of things. They are tampering with the main mechanics of the Control brains so none of the other Irkens will out grow them. Red and Purple planed to stay rulers of Irk for a _long_ time."

Dib let all the information soak in for a minute. "And when was the last time you saw Zim?"

"Oh, just under a hundred years ago."

"Damn you're old." Gaz blurted out. Narr glared, but she only shrugged.

Dib nodded. "I would like to see Zim now."

Narr looked at Dib oddly but agreed. "Very well, follow me."

Gaz and Dib followed Narr out of the strange room, leaving Chubs behind in his regular resting spot.

Gaz elbowed Dibs' ribs. "Don't you get it? What make you think Zim won't dump us for his leaders, like he did to Lard Narr?

Dib shrugged. "Well, I did the same to him."

"Is that you best response?!" Gaz hissed

"For the moment, yeah…"

That earned Dib a punch in the arm.

The halls were rounded and bizarre, like the space movies Dib would see on TV. Strange robots and alien creatures ran past, eyeing him strangely. He also saw Narr had a certain authority over the others.

They reached Zims room a short while after. It was guarded by the large alien Dib and Gaz had met earlier.

The monstrous face lit up with a childish joy at the sight of the humans. "Lard Narr, how is the male human?"

"He is fine Rex, and his name is Dib. The girl is Gaz."

"Gas?"

"I will hurt you so bad." Gaz growled.

Narr didn't seem to hear Gaz. "Carry on. Humans, follow me."

They went into the room to meet Zim at last. It was a troubling sight. Zim was on his stomach looking absolutely cross. Large wires coming out of his pak was attached to the ceiling.

"Zim?" Dib tried to catch his attention.

Zim smirked. "Told you I had a plan."

"Yeah, but now you are going to get interrogated!" Narr snapped. "Forgot about that, did ya?"

Zim chuckled, like he used to when he was up to something. "I didn't forget. In fact I am looking forward to it."

"Why, you little vermin!" Narr growled like he was going to attack. "Oh the things I will do…"

"Stop, please just stop." Dib took the role as the peace maker. "We all know Zim is a jerk."

"Hey!" Zim glared at Dib, looking offended.

"But that doesn't matter now. What matters is that we are on the same side now." Dib looked at Narr and Zim exchanging hate filled glares. "…Well, sort of."

Zim crossed his arms. "I never said I was going to be a rebel!"

Narr pointed at Zim angrily. "Like I would ever accept the likes of you anyway!"

"Oh _shut up_!" Gaz points at Narr. "You need to get over your self!" She turns her gaze at Zim and points at him. "And you need to stop making everything so difficult!"

"I am not the difficult one human!" Zim yelled crudely.

Gaz glared. "Yes you are!"

Narr looks at Dib as if to challenge him. "And just who's side do you think Zim is on?! You are an idiot to think you can befriend him!"

"Hey!" Dib paused for a witty comeback. "…Shut up!"

"Oh, is that the best you can do human?" Zim spat.

Dib rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry, I should have screamed my name at the top of my lungs and make a reference to my innards." He said sarcastically.

"Do not mock me worm baby!" Zim clawed at his bedding, aching to get up and _hit_ someone.

"Will everyone shut up, this is going no where!" Gaz snarled. "If this keeps going, I am going to kill somebody!"

"Listen to her, she will really do it!" Dib backed away from his sister.

Narr let out a long sigh. "Fine, but I still need to interrogate Zim; Even if he isn't on Irks' side anymore."

Zim smirked even wider. "But I am on Irks side."

Everyone stared at Zim as if he was even more insane then before. "Have you lost your mind? What about the Tallest?" Dib reminded.

If he could, Zim would have stood up. But his words will have to do for now.

"Because;_ I_ will become the next Tallest!"


	18. Chapter 18

**Updated again!**

**Sorry it was late.**

**Stuff came up.**

**Lots of stuff.**

**Stuff that you shouldn't know about.**

**Yeah…**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own ANYTHING!**

"_I will become the next Tallest!"_

The room was dead silent; you could hear a pen drop. At first, the sentence didn't make any sense. Then the words slowly sunk in, just begging for a response. And it got one. It started as a smirk across Narr's face, which broke into a light hearted laugh. Dib was the second to laugh, feeling more relaxed. Gaz was always the collected one but couldn't help but to chuckle with cruelty.

Zim slammed his fists onto the bedding. "I wasn't kidding!"

The laughter grew. Zim gritted his teeth. He wanted to hit someone so badly…

Dib wiped a tear from his eye and flopped down to a chair. "Sorry Zim, but the very idea of you becoming a Tallest…"

"It is the most flipping insane idea! The chaos, the confusion! The universe will go mad!" Narr was now coughing, in an attempt to regain composer. "With you as Tallest, Irk will be doomed!"

"Shut your noise box Narr! I will make a great leader!" Zim began to squirm, rage filling him.

"Yeah, a short one."

"That tears it!" Zims PAK retracted its power cords, freeing Zim to charge into Narr, landing a punch into his face, breaking the left lens of his goggles. This knocked the rebel onto the floor, momentarily helpless due to surprise.

Zim was about get on Narr to land a few more punches, when Dib blocked him and pushed him back. "Don't be an idiot, you in a ship filled with rebels!"

Zim pushed Dib back. "Well he deserved it!"

"Will you just calm down?!"

"Zim never calms down!"

"Freak!"

"Stink head!"

"Stubborn!"

"Filth worm!"

"Space boy!"

The two stopped arguing and stared at each other. Then they started to laugh as if they had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

Narr got up and took off his goggles. "Cripes, and these are my best pair…" He looks at Zim and Dib laughing and turned to Gaz. "Did I miss something?"

Gaz shrugged. "Just the fact they are both insane."

"Ah. Right O then." Narr crossed his arms. "I take it you are feeling better Zim?"

Zim paused and looked at Narr. "I'm not at full power, but yeah."

"In that case, you know what happens now." Narr said coldly. "It's all protocol from here on out."

Zim sighed. "Then let's get this over with."

"Wait, what's happening?" Gaz looked at Narr. "What protocol?"

Narr threw his goggles on the floor carelessly and took out a yellow pair. "First, I as the leader and owner of this ship must contact Zims leaders. Then, depending on what they say, Zim will be interrogated, killed, or simply imprisoned."

"_Killed_?"

Zim shrugged. He seemed not to care very much about what was happening around him.

Suddenly something clicked in Dibs brain. "Narr, when you took me out of the ship, was there a book bag?"

Narr nodded. "Yeah, we screened it for weapons and it was deemed safe. Is there something in it you need?"

"Yeah, you can say that."

"Then I will have someone bring it up. Meanwhile, let's get this party moving." Narr snapped his arm to point to the door.

Dib shrugged and pulled Zim out of the room, which seemed hesitant about moving on. Dib hoped the Tallest would try and get Zim killed. He wished nothing changed, he found himself wanting to be in school again.

Gaz followed closely behind Narr, sending burning stares in the back of his head. He gulped and walked faster.

The made their way to the front of the ship, which wasn't too far from where they were now. Dib couldn't stop staring at all the aliens, there were so many species. But none of them looked like Zim, and all of them had weapons.

Zim elbowed Dib. "Stop staring, you look like a retard!"

Dib glared. "I'll stare when I want! You are not the boss of me!"

Zim hissed and crossed his arms. He hated not being in control of things.

Once reaching the steel gates, they slid open, granting access. Dib felt like a kid in a candy store when he saw the large windows and the vast open starry sky.

"Whoa! Gaz! Look, it's so big!" Dib shouted, unable to hide his excitement. Gaz felt like smacking him. Of course it was big; it was space.

Narr clapped his hands twice, catching the attention of his crew. "Send a transmission to the Massive; I have prisoner report to fill out."

The room was filled with the sounds of clacking and clicking due to keyboards and such. Narr pulled out a pair of chrome bracelets and attached them to Zims wrists. He pointed at the humans. "Stand in the background somewhere." Narr ordered. "The Tallest lash out at you two as well."

Zim started to fidget in his spot. It was show time.


	19. Chapter 19

** (Shudders)**

**Bad news, I entered a Truth and Dare game on an Invader Zim guild, and I chose dare.**

**And I had to draw Zadr. But good news, I cheated!**

**It doesn't really look like Zadr, just chibi cuteness.**

**But yoai fan girls will take anything.**

**No offence.**

**So does that mean I didn't cheated?**

…

**Did I cheat or not!?**

**Ah well, who cares.**

**On with the story!**

**DISCLAMER: I own nothing!**

"I don't think I have ever been this relaxed in my life!" Purple happily munched on his doughnut, and allowed the crumbs to fall to the ground. "Life without Zim pestering us every second with reports of fake mission is _good_!"

Red chuckled. "You can say that again, I wonder why we didn't do this sooner… oh well." He took a sip of his soda. "My only regret is that we couldn't see his pitiful expression, I bet it was priceless!"

Purple nodded. "We can send someone to earth to beat up the corpse! His Pak should be dead by now!"

"Unless he followed our advice of course. He might be all opened up, and the humans poking around his organs." Red reminded.

The two laughed light heartily. Red rubbed a tear of joy from his eye. "Yes… so what planet should we take over next?"

"Oh, let's do Earth! We can perform painful executions on other defects! We can steal the humans' medieval torture inventions, you know, after taking out the humans."

"That sound like a great idea!"

The large screen in front of them bean to flash, indicating that someone was trying to contact the Tallest.

"Oh, who could that be?" Red asked angrily.

Lard Narr appeared on the screen, glaring at the Tallest. "Greetings, do you remember me Tallest?"

Purple pointed excitedly. "Oh yeah! You are the guy who crashed on earth!"

Narr sighed. "Look, let's do this without you making a fool of yourself." He said. "I have a prisoner, Irken." The screen enlarged to show Zim, who was looking as if he rather stick a rusty nail in his eye.

"Just how the hell is he still alive?" Red stood up angrily.

Narr point his finger in the air. "We found him half dead on a ship, so my crew revived him. Soon he will be in a fit state to be interrogated. You know protocols as well as I do, for you do the same with my prisoners."

"That doesn't matter! Zim, you knew you were not allowed to leave Earth, what are you doing in the Resisty Ship?" Red pointed at Zim, looking as if he wanted to jump into the screen and strangle him.

Zim looked at his feet, losing all nerve.

Dib looked at Zim, and wondered why he wasn't standing up for himself. Where is the cocky Zim that he knew for years?

"Answer the question Zim!"

It was funny. Zim knew exactly what he was going to saw before they stepped into the room, but know he had forgotten it. All his life, he knew nothing but to respect and obey the Tallest, whoever they are. How was he to know how to do the complete opposite now?

"I…I didn't want to die." Zim shuddered. It was a terrible answer, he knew it.

"You disobeyed a direct order!"

"That's enough!" Narr snapped. "Zim is mine's now. All I had to do is make you aware of him being here."

Purple crossed his arms. "Well, it isn't like he knows anything important. You are better off just killing him."

Reds eyes flickered, suddenly remembering the upgrades. It was just like Purple to forget, but Red…

"Yes, and they reason why we banished him in the first place is because he was a defect! He would lie for _everything_. So you want to interrogate him, fine. Good luck separating the fantasy from fact!" And with that, he cut the transmission off.

"…Wait, I don't lie! That liar!" Zim said out loud, looking annoyed. "The nerve of it all…"

"That red one seems a bit meaner then the other." Dib commented.

Rex stumbled into the room with Dibs book bag. "I gots the human bag Sir Narr!" He said with much excitement. It was surprising how childish he acted, for something so _large._

Narr pointed to Dib and the giant handed him the bag. "There you go mister human, Heheh. Don't see many humans, hardly see any." He then walked away as if he had something more important to do, like frighten small children.

"Funny guy..." Dib muttered. He set the bag on the floor and awkwardly attempted to open it without falling over. He still has that crutch and cast. Gaz glared at her brother, annoyed that he wouldn't ask for help. Finally, she simply walked over and opened the bag for him.

"…Thanks." Dib said sheepishly. With ease, he pulled out a limp Sir unit.

Zim blinked. "Gir?"

Dib nodded. "Sorry I forgot to give him to you earlier, but I was a bit afraid of turning him on in the ship."

"And with good reason..." Zim took Gir away from Dib and opened his head to turn on the little robot.

**0o0o0o0o0o0**

**o0o0o0o0o0o**

Red was pacing back and forth in the room, mumbling about something. Purple looked at his brother strangely. "I think its best you sit down Red, you are making me dizzy."

Red threw his arms in the air angrily. "He just couldn't stay on Earth! I knew I should have blown up that planet. Why didn't that human dissect him? None of this makes sense!"

"Don't worry about it." Purple took a bit of his doughnut. "The Resisty was a weak army to begin with. All we have to do is blow up the ship Zim is on. And we also take out the leader, so two birds with one stone!"

"We don't know the coordinates Purple." Red hissed. "If it was that easy to track them, we would have destroyed them already."

Purple nodded. "Tricky ones… What are we going to do?"

Red bit his lip and stopped pacing. "We will order our smartest scientists and hackers to find these coordinates. Have every one of our planets on a sharp lookout if they find Zim or any other member of the Resisty."

Then he added bitterly in his head; '_And the entire Irken race must not know the truth_'


	20. Chapter 20

**Another fast update? Is this a sign of good things to come?**

**Maybe.**

**Maybe not.**

**But this will be a tasty chapie, that I promise you.**

**(Sighs)**

**Its a loooong way to the end...**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except for the random nameless aliens! And Rex! I love Rex...**

"I'm running! I'm running!" Screamed Gir as he raced about the room. Every living thing in the room chased him about, pleading for it to stop.

Narr pulled on his horns and let out a whine. "_This_ is you robot slave Zim!?" He yelled in disbelief. "How can you handle something so…"

"Look you horrible rebel, Gir is my robot!" Zim snapped as he lunged forward at the right moment, and tackled Gir.

Gir gave a hug to his master and clung to his neck, even when Zim stood back up. "I missed you master, I really did!" It screamed. Zim let out a long, annoyed sigh.

Dib felt himself smiling. Zim can be a nice guy sometimes. "Heh, glad to see the little guy is okay."

Gaz growled. "It better not touch me…"

Narr nodded, as if to agree with something. "Zim, I need you to come with me."

Zim somehow got Gir off himself and handed him to Dib. Gir was surprisingly light, and Dib was able to hold him with one arm. "Find something to do, this might take a while." Zim said before leaving the room with Narr.

Gaz looked at her stuffed animal again, and began to pick the lint off the pink felt.

**0o0o0**

Zim was seated onto a steel chair. He took a deep breath to calm himself, for it reminded him vaguely of when he was held up in that horrible lab.

At least now, he wasn't dying.

Narr paced back and forth in the room, rubbing his chin. "Zim, I can tell when someone is lying to me. Tallest Red was flustered about something, and I think you know something about it."

Zim folded his hands on the table in front of him. "I wouldn't know. Only Elites know the Tallests secrets, or at least some of them. Highest rank I ever gotten was that of an Invader."

Narr nodded. "I know that Zim. But you used to know the Tallest before they attained power. You knew them since you were a smeet."

Zim remained silent.

"Zim, if you do not answer me, I will be forced to torture you for the information I need." Narr reminded.

Zim tighten his grip on his own hands. "Something happened when they were choosing the new Tallests."

Narr stopped pacing and gave a sideways look at Zim.

"They…" Zim felt his chest cave in, pushing the air out of his lungs. He shut his eyes tightly and waited the pain to pass.

Narr raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright?"

Zim coughed and nodded. "Heh, that was odd. I couldn't breathe for a second."

"Air pressure is just fine in here, what were you saying?"

"_You can't say anything to anyone. You are involved now."_

Zim frowned. The Tallest no longer had power over him, what was the problem? "They didn't kill me…" He said suddenly.

Narr looked at Zim with confusion. "But they did try."

"I mean back then! They didn't do it when they could have. Why? Why didn't they?" Zim felt his heart pounding.

Narr slammed his fists on the table, in an attempt to snap Zim out of it. "What are you talking about?!"

Zim looked at his hands. What made him so different from the others? He got the same information, the same training. What happened? He felt himself shaking.

"Zim!"

"_Okay. I won't say a word."_

"Something happened, and I can't remember it." Zim said in a hoarse whisper. He continued to stare at his hands, as if they held the answer.

Narr looked into Zims eyes, and saw that this wasn't the same cocky carefree Zim he had taught in the past. His ego was still large, but didn't flaunt it about as he did in the past. This Zim now had a burden to carry.

"I made so many mistakes, bad ones. And yet, I was never punished. I sent to Earth simply because I was annoying my Tallest. But that was it. What made me so different? What made me so damn special?!" Zim stood up, shaking with rage.

"Zim, calm down!" Narr snapped. He placed his hand on his gun holster, just incase.

Zim growled. "I am Zim. I am Zim. _**I am Zim**_. What the hell did that mean?! What was going though my head?!" Zim took a step toward Narr, and he took a step back. "Something is wrong, horribly wrong here. Cant you see it?"

"Zim, I need you to sit down and relax." Narr said in a calming voice. "You are losing control of yourself."

Zim blinked, and touched his forehead. "…Sorry, I guess did lose it a little."

Narr stared at the strange Irken as he returned to his seat, and felt a familiar worry for his sanity. "Look Zim." He said slowly. "We can figure this out. I can help you, but you need to help me first."

Zim nodded slowly.

"You said something had happened when the control brains were choosing their new Tallest. What happened? Did you see something?"

Zim paused for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes. Tallest Red and Purple, they…" Zim stopped talking and looked up at Narr, suddenly feeling overwhelmed. "They…" he felt something wet trickle out of his mouth.

Narr eyes widened. "Zim, you're bleeding."

Zim wiped his chin and looked at the smear of pink on his fist. "Pak violation, they programmed it to malfunction if I tell anyone." He said, sounding very surprised. "But I would remember that…"

Narr knew then that the situation was much more complicated then he at first thought. "If that is the case, then you are harboring information that could compromise the fate of Irk. I never had seen an Irken with that program before though."

Zim wiped the rest of his blood away. "Are you able to get rid of the program?"

"No."

"I see."

Narr took a seat across from Zim. "Why didn't you realize this sooner, I mean about the Tallest?"

Zim shrugged. "I didn't want to see it. I wanted to believe that they were best fit for the job."

Narr sat silently. There was a prolonged silence.

**0o0o0o0**

"They have been in there for an awfully long time." Dib said worriedly. Gaz shrugged. She didn't seem to care.

Dib thought for a moment, and suddenly realized something. "Gaz, stay here with Gir. I got to ask someone something." With that, he ran off.

"What? No, don't leave me with him!" Gaz was about grab his cutch and smack Dibs' head over with it, when the lovable Gir hugged her to stay.

"Gazzzzy! I love you!" It squealed happily.

"Leave me alone!" Gaz attempted to pry the robot off, and at the same time, go after Dib. But the weight of Gir made her unbalanced, so she fell over. Oh well.

Dib limped up to a smart looking alien, who resembled a cockroach slightly. How cockroaches look smart is beyond me. "Um, mister? Why aren't Gaz and I being interrogated? Is it because we aren't Irken?"

The alien peered down at the boy, and grinned. At least, that was what Dib guess he was doing. It was more of a mouth opening and claws clicking. It responded. "Humans are the property of the mechanics department. A ship will come in and decide your fate."

Dibs mouth dropped. "Property? You mean there are more humans out here, how is that possible?!"

The alien did something with his arms, that Dib guessed was a shrug. "I don't know. You will have to ask your maser." The alien turned its back to Dib, to resume its pervious task.

Dib paused and suddenly became very confused. "Master?"


	21. Chapter 21

**I read all your reviews…**

**And all, of not most of you guessed WRONG.**

**LOL**

**ROTFL**

**OMG**

**BBQ**

**That was my reaction to most of the reviews.**

**So yeah…**

**OH! And there is an End Note, but read it when you are done with the chapter!**

**You will like it, I think…**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Zim, Narr, Dib, Gaz, Gir, the Tallest, the massive, the very idea of Irkens, the Resisty, Earth, Irk, Zims Pak, Membrane, Dark booty, Moofy the screaming little girl, Disemboweled Head, the Swollen Eyeball Network, Miss Bitters, the government, space, English, superman, Skooge, Tak, Zims Computer, the dancing squirrels, Jiggins, Willy, Gretchen, Zita, Old Kid, Poop Dog, Poop Bars, Poop Soda, Poop, Dwicky, Sizlord… (Faints)**

Zim told Narr everything he could about the Tallest. How it was them who started the war, and if anyone defies them will be punished. But it was a useless integration, because whenever Zim attempted to confess any key elements, the program interfered.

Narr wondered if he should push Zim to tell him everything, despite the fact it could kill him. Instead, he decided to save that for another day.

"Look Zim, we will continue this another time. This information is a bit useless." Narr pointed out.

Zim opened his mouth to say something when Rex popped his ugly head into the room.

"Lard Narr! A ship is coming in!" He said excitedly. And before Narr could respond to that, he slammed the door shut, making the room shake a bit.

"He acts like a child!" Zim complained. He never had much patience for sudden outbursts.

Narr rolled his eyes. "He_ is _a child. And has a bit of a brain defect."

"…Where are my humans?" Zim quickly changed the subject, and got up to leave the room.

Narr opened the door. "They are not yours Zim."

"What are you talking about? Of course they are mines!"

Narr shook his head. "No Zim, the Nar'Ghok first discovered the humans. But they never bothered listing Earth as an official planet, so no one knows where it exists. Until now that is."

Zim walked though the door, scowling at Narr. "Don't remind Zim of those horrible babies. Noogums…"

"Who?"

"Eh, he was the captain or something. I can't remember now."

"Ah, well I suppose that doesn't matter now." Narr led Zim to the unloading dock of the ship. "Things should be a little clearer when you meet the new caretaker of your humans."

"Care taker? I told you, Dib and Gaz are mine! I brought them here!" Zim yelled stubbornly.

"You are acting like a smeet! The Nar'Ghok claimed complete ownership of the entire human race as they were the first to discover them. And the humans are too primitive to decide otherwise. You have no power." Narr snapped, and held a tight smug on his face. He enjoyed it when Zim got flustered.

The intercom or whatever was transmitting announcements all over the large ship suddenly came to life as a ragged voice spoke with a booming voice.

"**Lard Narr, the persons known as 'Ryuji' and 'Dwicky' are boarding the teleportation pad and are arriving within one minute to the unloading dock.**" The voice pauses for a second and sighed heavily. "**And whoever was the wisenheimer that locked the broadcast room from the outside, please unlock it? I've been trapped in here for two hours already…**"

Zim blinked. "Dwicky?"

"Yeah, crazy name isn't?" Narr commented.

Zim shook his head. "No, that isn't what I meant. I mean, Dwicky is a human name!"

Narr shrugged. "I suppose that's because he is a human himself. Don't know much about him though; other then he is the oldest human on the crew."

"He was a school teacher at Earth!" Zim paused. "Or was he a janitor?"

"Your memory is fantastic." Narr muttered.

"Don't mock me!"

Narr led Zim though some halls, to the Unloading Docks, which really was just a place for the Teleportation pad. It wasn't far, like the control rooms, but if you weren't paying attention it was easy to get lost.

The pad it self was just a raised black floor with a odd dome handing overhead. Then the pad began to activate.

A scene that was pulled straight from Star Wars, Star Track, or whatever those stereotype nerds drool over, was played out. There were showers of blue sparkly lights as two figures appeared on the pad. Science? No, it must be magic.

Dwicky jumped onto the floor, arms waving in the air. "Golly that was great! Just GREAT! I wish I can do that everyday!" He cried, sounding like he just ate a whole sack of sugar.

And yes, I did mean Dwicky.

The second figure was slower to walk off the platform. He looked like a large panther, except for the small fact that he could walk up right and speak in complete sentences.

Narr respectfully shook his hand/paw. "Good evening to you sir. I was expecting General Gogglebutt, what on Vort happened?" Narr greeted.

Ryuji nodded knowingly. "Yes, but you know how General Gogglebutt is like. Terrified of Irkens, and when he found out there was one on the main ship… lets just say he rather be doing something else."

Zim's antennas perked at the word 'Irken'. "Why the Tallest is he the General if he can't even look at his enemy in the eye?" It was a reasonable question.

Ryuji and Narr looked at Zim and said simultaneously, "Because; he is so _freaking _smart." They seemed to roll their eyes, well Narr was. You couldn't tell with Ryuji.

Zim looked at Dwicky, who seemed to be touching everything in sight. He hadn't even recognized him yet or gave notice he was there. Zim shook his head disapprovingly. "Dib is not going to like this…"

Dwicky froze and looked at Zim. "Did you say Dib?"

Zim crossed his arms. "Yeah, are you the new 'master'?"

Dwicky had a big old 'I am a big boy' smile on his face. "Nope! I'm the Nurse!"

Zim cracked up, gripping his sides to keep them from splitting.

Narr groaned. "No Zim, General Gogglebutt is the master. I'll be kind just this once. Fetch your humans to say goodbye one last time."

Zim glared daggers at Narr.

"Do it. And don't try anything; there are armed soldiers all across the ship!"

"I wasn't going to try anything, you paranoid goat!" Zim stormed off, looked like a cat that was thrown into a tub of water.

As he walked off, Narr turned to Ryuji. "So Ryuji, was there any reason why you came along with the human?"

Ryuji pointed at Dwicky, who was awkwardly holding a gun. It went off, causing Dwicky to scream. He drops it, it goes off again, and he screams again.

"He may be an adult in Earth years, but I fear he may be slightly more damaged then Rex."

Narr nodded. "I see."

"Indeed."

**0o0**

Gaz had a tight grip on Gir's throat, shaking him angrily. "Stop! For the love of all that is demonic and evil, STOP!"

But kept singing, "Doom doom doom doom, doom doomdoomdom, DOOM! DOOM! Doomy doom doom…"

Dib was sitting next to his sister sighing. "Oh, can't you just ignore him? Or maybe turn him off?"

Gaz twitched. "Don't…you…think…I…TRIED THAT!?" She tossed Gir onto her brother. "YOU turn him off if you are so smart!"

At that moment exactly, Zim stormed in. "HUMANS! Come before Zim now!"

Dib rolled his eyes and set Gir on the ground. Gir ran off blindly, causing chaos and havoc. "Yeah Zim?"

Gaz followed her brother, stuffing her toy in her book bag. "What do you want?" She snapped.

Zim coughed and looked at Dib. "You are going with Dwicky to…"

"DWICKY?!" Dib yelled, startling his sister and Zim. "That freak of an adult that ran off with the spoootynufins….spoofylulus, Chunutaions… Whatever those aliens called themselves?!"

Zim nodded. "Yes, well he joined the Resisty. I think… Anyway, he and the large talking stink cat will escort you to the rest of the humans."

"That makes no sense… any of it." Gaz said.

Dib nodded. "Yeah, are we going to Earth?"

Zim shook his head. "No, it's a long story. I am sure someone will explain it to you. I have to stay here though."

Dib's eyes widened. "This got from weird to scary weird all of a sudden. You are leaving us? Alone!?"

Zim looked at his feet. "This is a time of war Dib Stink, and we have very different paths." Zim snapped his stare on Dib, catching him off guard. "So shut up and do what I say moron!"

Dib gritted his teeth at the insult.

Gaz shoved them both, knocking Dib to the floor by mistake. "Hey! Who said we have to go?!"

Zim grunted. "Lard Narr, and some fat cat, and a psycho human adult. Oh, and about every other Resisty member on this ship."

"But this isn't fair!" Gaz yelled.

"Nothing has been fair Gaz Human!" Zim yelled.

"HEY! Don't yell at my sister!" Dib yelled, getting to his feet.

"I don't need to be defended!" Gaz yelled, knocking Dib down once more.

"Is that anyway to treat your injured brother?!"

The three kept fighting like this for a good forty-five seconds. Finally, Zim was the first to snap back to reality.

"Listen, if you don't believe me, follow me at least." Zim snapped, grabbing a hold of Dibs collar and pulled him back to his feet.

Zim brushed himself off, and had the humans follow him back to the unloading docks, where Dwicky and Ryuji were waiting.

Dwicky looked down at Dib and Gaz. He beamed with pride. "Gaz and Dib; well, you two have grown a lot! You are going to like your master, General Gogglebutt. He is very old so speak loudly."

"Dwicky, what are you doing here!?" Dib asked angrily.

Dwicky put on a big smile. "Why, I'm your new nurse since I know the most about humans! Won't this be fun?!"

Gaz and Dib gave Narr and Zim pleading looks, but all was given in return were helpless shrugs.

Ryuji placed a large paw on both of the children's shoulders. "Now, don't fret. There are other humans you will be with, and we don't fight on the fields." He said in a ragged, yet oddly calming voice.

"So we really don't have a say in this." Dib said. Gaz attempted to strike fear in Ryuji's heart by glaring at him, but he didn't seem to be affected at all.

Zim nodded. "So, this is goodbye."

Dib shifted awkwardly. "Um, so what… Do we hug or something?"

"Have you lost your mind?! Get on the teleportation pad before I hit you!" Zim quickly snapped. Dib couldn't help but to laugh at that.

Dib and Gaz were led onto the teleportation platform along with Ryuji and Dwicky. Dib chuckled. "I'll be back alien scum!"

Zim let out a big 'HA'. "I'll be waiting Worm Baby!"

And with that, they were gone. And Zim was alone again.

**0o0o0o0o**

**End Note**

**Yeah, yeah, I know. I need to update faster.**

**Some of you might be confused about the humans in space. Let me explain.**

**Remember the episode 'Pelage of Babies'? There was the scene where all the human babies were abducted by mistake, although it wasn't a big deal in the show. But they never returned the babies, at least, not that I've seen.**

**My guess is that the Nar'Ghok race was terribly confused that a bunch of drooling helpless babies were on their ship. And then they grew up rapidly, and all the parenthood pains were passed onto them.**

**And since they were not Irken, they must have been a part of the Resisty.**

**So the humans became a part of the Resisty.**

**And when Dwicky came along, and with his AMAZING knowledge of humans, he had to help the poor aliens out.**

**Also, the babies should be about 10 or 11 years old, as mentioned on the show.**

**And yes, I came up with all that. I am just that smart!**

**AND WHO WANTS ME TO MAKE A REQUEST STORY?!**

**CONTEST, READ UP!**

**Ryuji is an OC, but is not totally mines. If anyone can guess where I got:**

**NAME:**

**And**

**CAT BODY:**

**From, and say answer on review, I will write a story for you, about ANYTHING you want. BUT it has to be Invader Zim or Yugioh. And it will be a one-shot.**


	22. Chapter 22

**None of you guessed right, so let me give a few more hints.**

**Ryuji is a name from an anime, but is not a main character.**

**The cat body is from a book series, but is not the focus of the plot.**

**That should help you guys out on the guessing. If no one guesses right, I will show the correct answers next chapter. I will also have a new contest, so you all still have a chance for a request.**

**So put your thinking caps on!**

**And this is a very short update. I wrote this so you all know I am alive and that no one had won yet. Next chapter will be up soon.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Invader Zim!**

Dib didn't like the new ship. It was darker, save for the dim lights from the computer screens. In each room there were computers and aliens working on various robots and codes. Dwicky was walking briskly, waving at every living thing that walked past.

Gaz had her cold attitude back, and didn't seem to care or notice what was happening.

Ryuji led the way and seemed to be walking towards the back of the ship. Dib heard what seemed to be a large amount of people talking and it got louder as they walked. Dib peered into an empty room and saw what seemed to be over a dozen cots. They didn't look comfortable at all.

Ryuji took a turn away from the noise. Dib would have to find out about that later. Ryuji walked into a room which strangely had no door. In it there was large machines that reminded Dib of his fathers labs. On tables there were toy like gadgets and disassembled SIR units and blue prints. In the center was a round table, piled high with papers and disks.

Ryuji tapped his claws on top of the papers. "Gogglebutt, someone is here to see you."

"Really? Oh dear, right now? Tell them to come back." Sounded a small voice. Dib guessed it was an old man.

Ryuji sighed. "Yes, right now. And I can't. They are the new humans."

"Humans? What are humans?"

"That is the name of the unknown species we had on our ships."

"Oh, right. Right. Right." A short figure walked out from behind the stack of papers, scribbling something on what looked like a black berry. He was half the height of Dib. He wore glasses that made his eyes look huge and bug like. He was bald and had a small beak for a mouth.

"Um… Hello?" Dib wasn't sure how to act.

Gaz grunted. "That _thing _is our master?"

Gogglebutt didn't seem to hear them. He adjusted his glasses and examined Gaz. He walked around her, and much to her displeasure, poked her in the ribs. "A female, yet a bit small. Interesting, very interesting…" He began rambling in a much more quiet tone.

"Poke me again, and I will cook you for dinner bird boy!" Gaz screamed. Dib had to restrain her to keep her from killing the small man.

Gogglebutt laughed. "Temper! Such a temper! My, my… I might have to isolate you, yes…"

Dib chuckled nervously. "No need for that sir. My sister is just… HEY!" Dib quickly let go of his sister as Gogglebutt began to approach Dib with a large sliver claw.

"Oh, don't fret! I need to measure your head. It seems a bit big…. Yes…"

"My head is not big! Get away from me!" Dib said.

Dwicky smiled widely. "Gogglebutt is really smart! He was Lard Narr's teacher, and…"

"I don't care! He is insane!" Dib protested. At that moment, Gogglebutt had his arms wrapped around Dib's leg.

"Stop! I need to measure your foot as well!" Gogglebutt shrieked.

Gaz began to laugh at the sight. Ryuji however did not. "Sir, I believe it is time we should have the humans get acquainted with the others."

Gogglebutt immediately let go of Dib and adjusted his glasses once more. "Of course. I suppose I could perform my experiments another time… yes…"

Dib watched the small man walk away to work on an unfinished project. He shuddered at knowing this would not be their last meeting.

Ryuji motioned everyone to leave the room, back into the hall. Dib had to stop himself from running. Gaz nudged Dib. "I swear, if that alien goes near me again, you and him both are going to pay."

"Why me?" Dib whined.

Dwicky grinned and pointed straight ahead. "It's the last door at the end of the room. Ryuji and I have some work to do so have fun!"

"But Dwicky!"

It was too late; Dwicky was already skipping down the hall. Ryuji gave a sympathetic shrug to the sibling and followed the hyperactive adult.

"Let's get this over with." Gaz grunted. "I need to let these other 'humans' know who is going to be in charge from now on."

Dib sighed, and allowed Gaz to lead the way.

**0o0o0**

"This food is horrible! Awful! I refuse to eat it!" Zim snapped, yelling at Narr.

Narr narrowed his eyes. "It's not horrible Zim! It's a healthy, delicious meal!"

Zim pushed his plate back. "I want snacks!"

"You can't have snacks!"

"Irkens eat snacks! I never had to eat… what was the word?"

Narr glared at Zim and said dryly, "Healthy."

"Healthy! It even sounds awful…" Zim pushed back the plate.

"Eat it!"

"NO!"

Angrily, Narr grabbed a bluish fruit and tackled Zim out of his seat. Zim began to screech, and lash out. Narr grabbed one arm and pinned down. With his free arm, he tried to force the fruit into Zims mouth. Zim used his own free hand to push the fruit away.

Just then, a Resisty member walked into the room. "Sir, I need you to sign… oh."

The room froze for a second. Narr began to tense up, and by accident, squeezed the fruit. The juice sprayed into Zims eyes.

"MY EYES! Great (_bleep_) of Irk! You (_**Bleep**_)!" Zim began to screech and twitch.

Narr quickly stood up, smiling apologetically. "Heh, opps."

The Resisty member quickly left the room. He would have to get the documents signed another time.


	23. Chapter 23

**Well, here is the newest chapter of Tolerance.**

**You should be prepared.**

**Not all things last forever.**

**And not all things are what they seem.**

**Next few chapters will be very exciting.**

**Prepare for the end!**

**ALSO! No one has one. Everyone guessed wrong or gave an incomplete answer.**

**Body: From a book series called Pendragon. The world of Eelong is populated by large cats that walk and talk like humans.**

**Name: It was the original Japanese name for Duke Devlin from Yugioh.**

**But here is your new chance to win a request!**

**All you have to do is draw a fan art of this story. The best artist will win!**

**SO FIGHT TO THE DEATH!**

**(Runs off screaming)**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing!**

It was a seemingly normal time at the Massive. Purple had taken a liking to a new brand of space chips and was munching on them hungrily. He offered some to Red, who seemed to be lost in thought.

"Come on Red! You haven't eaten anything since you talked with Zim. You know he isn't going to say anything." Purple complained, waving a greasy chip in his friends face. "Just one bite and I'll leave ya alone."

Red slapped the chip out of Purples hand, causing a few drones to gasp. They quickly left the room, sensing an agreement.

"Look Pur, I don't have a lot of things to think about now. I don't have time for snacks." Red snapped.

Purple's mouth dropped open. "You don't have time for snacks? Snacks?! Irk Red, stop freaking me out and talk to me."

"You won't understand. I hate to be the one to break this to you, but you are a bit on the dull side."

Purple narrowed his glare on Red and promptly smacked him on the side of the head. "Tell me. Tell me now." He demanded.

Red rubbed his head. Only Purple could do that and live. And Purple only did that when Red had either insulted him or have said something stupid. And Red never did anything stupid.

"Fine..." Red growled. "Do you remember Tallest Spork?"

"Of course I remember him!" Purple said, as if not remembering the former Tallest was blasphemy.

Red turned his back to his friend and sighed deeply. "He was working on a way to improve the Irken body. As you know, Irkens have evolved beyond the point of reproduction. We have to make our own bodies now." He paused for a second. "Purple, are you following me?"

Purple nodded.

Red took his word for it and continued. "Well, he died before he could do any real progress. And that's when we took over. But there was a problem when I ran across his documents. Tallest Spork was working on this in private. Not even his most brilliant scientists knew about it. It was a personal project. So naturally, it would have its own flaws."

"And what does this have to do with anything?" Purple asked, wanting to get to the point.

Red held up a hand as a sign for him to not interrupt. "I am getting to that. As I was saying, the project was not only flawed, but incomplete. Like a puzzle that is missing a few pieces. I wanted to move on and began the conquest of the universe. That is, until shortly after Zim ruined Impending Doom One."

"What? Why? Tell me!" Purple asked. He was beginning to feel excitement.

Red smirked. "Dear old Spork didn't have such an incomplete project as I had first thought. Do you remember when Zim had his invader status removed?"

"That was possibly the greatest day in the history of Irk." Purple sighed happily at the memory.

Red nodded. "Yes. Yes it was. But when the control brain attached itself to Zims pak, it recognized his bio signature. It 'unlocked' something."

Purple raised an invisible eyebrow. "Wait a minute, you lost me. What does Zim have to do with Spork?"

"That my friend is the million dollar question. You see… You know what? It might be better if I showed you rather then just talking about it."

Purples let his antennas drooped in disappointment. He wanted to know right away. "But why haven't you talked to me about this before? I am your friend, a Tallest!"

Red didn't answer that question right away. He sat for a minute, thinking of a good answer. "I guess…" He said slowly. "I thought of this as my own personal project as well."

Purple didn't buy that, but didn't press on.

Red turned to the screen. "Lets began the first phase. We will contact the Resisty and set up a trade."

**0o0o0o0**

"Hurry up and open the door Gaz! The suspense is killing me!" Dib pleaded.

"Shut up idiot! I can take all the time I want!" Gaz snarled. With an aggressive shove, she slammed the doors open.

Everyone inside the room looked at the scary girl and her brother with a startled look. They were all about Dibs age. But they all looked thin, cluttered, and a bit tired.

Dib opened his mouth to say something, but Gaz beat him to the punch.

"Listen up you whiners! My name is Gaz. This is my currently limp, yet permanently stupid brother Dib. I won't take orders from the lot of you, but I will be the one giving them. Do I make myself clear?" She barked.

Everyone looked at each other, looking confused. They began muttering under their breaths.

A small girl broke out of the crowd. She had brown hair that was tangled and shoulder length. Her skin was pale from lack of sun. She stared at Dib and Gaz. "Are you two one of us?"

Dib scratched his head. "You mean human? Um, yeah…"

Suddenly, the entire room worth of children began to crowd around Dib and Gaz; all of them were asking questions.

"Are you really from earth?"

"Is it true that we have a life span of 80 to 90 years?"

"What is Earth like?"

"How did you get here?"

"What are families like?"

"What exactly is fast food?"

"Is our kind really primitive?"

"What are books like down there?"

"What kind of organisms lives on Earth?"

Dib raised his hand up defensively. "Whoa! Whoa! Give us a little room!" He looked at everyone and felt a little ping in his heart. Save for Dib and Gaz, every human in the room was wearing a faded uniform. A simple long sleeved grey shirt and pants, and all of them were the same size. And some of the humans were too small, and had to use what looked like rubber bands to help keep their pants up.

Dib blinked. "You guys live here? On this ship; and sleep in one room?"

Everyone nodded. A boy with shaggy blonde hair spoke. "Yes. You two are lucky; we just got new beds so you won't have to sleep on the floor."

"You mean those dinky cots?" Gaz asked bluntly.

The boy looked startled. "What is a dinky?"

"It's a… you know what? Don't worry about it." Dib rubbed his head. He knew these questions were going to drive him crazy.

A loud bell sounded and every child ran out of the room as if their lives depended on it, chattering loudly. Dib and Gaz was so confused by the sudden change in mood that they didn't know what else to do but run as well.

"Where are we going?" Gaz yelled to anyone of the others.

"We have to hurry or else there won't be any food left for us!" Called out the same brown haired girl from before.

**0o0o0o0**

Zim was in his cell rubbing his face with a rag. He was cursing under his breath as he rubbed the last of the fruits pulp out of his eyes. When finished, he looked around.

Narr was a fool to trust Zim enough to let him wander as he pleased though out the ship. Zim was a bit disappointed to find he was the only prisoner. He knew that the Massive had hundreds if not thousands.

"Narr is fighting a losing battle…" He mused to himself. He felt a little better for some reason, he didn't know why.

Zim was still loyal to Irk. That much he knew, but loyal to the Tallest as well? He began to think about Dib, who at a time despised him and insulted his home.

Zim frowned and decided to pick a fight with someone- anyone on the ship; anything to keep himself from thinking.

**0o0o0o0**

"Sir? We are receiving a call from the Massive."

Narr looked up from his seat and waved his hand. "Well then, answer it."

The Tallest images flickered onto the screen. Purple had a hard expression, seemingly confused or troubled about something. Red however seemed quite collected.

"What do you want now you scum bags?" Narr asked coldly. "You already called once today."

Red cleared his throat. "Don't be so discourteous. I have a deal to make with you; A prisoner's trade to be exact."

Narr raised an eyebrow in interest. "You should know we only have Zim. And you don't seem very fond of him."

"You are correct. We are not fond of him. But it is because of our un-fondness of him that we want him." Red said, waving a finger in the air.

Narr sighed. "Could you be any more unclear?"

Red glared at Narr. "We want to kill him. And you are keeping him alive."

"Sorry to disappoint. Now if you excuse me, I have to…"

"We will give you prisoner 777."

Purple coughed on air and stared at his brother in disbelief. Narr seemed just as surprised.

Red smirked. "I believe he is of use to you? Or perhaps I am wrong?"

Narr waved his hand. "He is of great use! But you know badly we can damage you if you give use him! He knows the Massive inside out! Why the hell would you make such an idiotic move? For revenge?"

"Yeah, why would you make such a move?" Purple asked this, praying Red had a good answer.

Red just smiled. "Let just say it's a personal matter. And don't worry, the Massive is well protected. But thanks for your concern."

Narr grimaced. He suspected this was a trap, but didn't know how to get around it. Prisoner 777 was very valuable. While Zim was…

"_I can't do this…"_ Narr thought about how much this would hurt Zim and his little friends. He thought about just saying no to the whole thing.

He then remembered this was a time of war. He scowled at the memory of being kicked off the Massive; and how his entire life turned for the worse.

He looked coldly at Red.

"You have a deal."


	24. Chapter 24

**Brace yourself; this is where things get wild.**

**As for the art contest, if you have completed an art, please place the link in your review, so I know you are in the contest. That, or contact me on Gaiaonline with a PM. I am always hanging out there.**

**I won't tell you my favorite scene. That might give some an unfair advantage, or make the art less diverse.**

**And some of you were asking what I would accept. I am not picky. I will take anything from comics, to basic fan art to… well, anything. But it has to relate to the story.**

**Oh, and cookies for Genaleah for submitting the first art on Gaia!**

**Anyway, I would like to talk about the story itself.**

**I won't be bringing Skooge in. In the show, Skooge was supposed to be living with Zim. I wrote that Zim only lived with Gir. Let pretend Skooge is on Lolly Land, with the flying bunnies.**

**As for Tak, she MIGHT make a cameo. But don't bet on it.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any original IZ characters or the original plot!**

Zim turned a corner, looking into empty rooms. Everyone seemed to have disappeared to some meeting. Sighing, he began to walk in the direction of the control room. Maybe someone will be there.

Doing so, he turned another corner. He stopped short, a little startled by the oversized Rex standing in front of him.

"Rex, where is Narr?" Zim asked casually.

Rex looked down at Zim. Slowly he pointed what looked like a gun at him. "Sorry. You won't be seeing Narr anymore."

Before Zim could resister what was happening, his world went black.

**0o0o0o0**

Gaz and Dib stood dumbly at the entrance of the cafeteria. The larger aliens were using brute strength to get their pates first while the humans were using their smallness to sneak past them.

There was no order or line to speak of. What worse, there wasn't enough food to go around, causing chaos.

"This is worse then school." Dib commented.

Gaz shrugged. "I can do without dinner. I am not too hungry."

Dib decided to talk with Dwicky for a while and left the room. Gaz followed closely. To his surprise, she had taken his hand. Dib didn't say anything, but sensed a little change in Gaz. She seemed to hate being alone, and wasn't as aggressive as before. He then became so used to seeing her with that little pig toy, as if it had totally replaced the GS2.

It scared him a little.

During this entire mess, he and Gaz didn't have the time to grieve for their father. Dib foolishly hoped somehow he survived, and was resting comfortably in a hospital bed.

But that was a lie.

Then there was Dark booty, the only man that Dib could trust toughly during his rivalry with Zim. He was gone too.

Dib stopped walking, confusing his sister.

"Dib? What are you doing?" Gaz asked sharply. But Dib was too lost in thought.

The only pieces of his past were himself, Gaz and Zim. There was Dwicky as well, but he couldn't trust him, not after last time.

Dib looked at Gaz, and smiled as if nothing was wrong. "Gaz, I am going to ask Dwicky if it's possible for us to contact Zim. Just so we can keep tabs on each other."

Gaz nodded. She seemed to like the idea.

**o0o0o0o**

Zim slowly cracked his eyes open and blinked away the blurs in his vision. His body ached. He tightens his fists, and picked himself off the floor.

"So _nice_ of you to wake up." A voice jeered from behind.

Zim froze on the spot. He knew that voice.

"Tallest Red..." He said simply.

Zim found himself in the main room of the Massive. Red and Purple looked down at him. Zim tried to get from his knees to his feet, but felt a jolt of electricity run though out his body. Two guards hovered over him with prods.

Screaming, he fell to all fours. "I… I don't understand." He stammered.

"Zim, Lard Narr had a prisoner's trade with us. You are ours now." Purple explained.

Those words hit Zim hard. He wasn't safe anymore. Zim clutched his side out of fear. He knew what would happen. If anyone were to go against the Tallest, an Execution would be performed on the spot.

Zim shut his eyes, and waited for one of the guards to rip off his Pak and be done with it.

But they didn't.

Red smirked as he stared upon the smaller Irken. "Guards? Take Zim out of the room and run a quick checkup on him. I have a surprise later for him."

Zim was unable to move for a second out of shock. He gave a questioning look at Red as he was dragged out the room.

Purple glared at Red and gave him a little shove. "What are you thinking?! You could have killed him, right now! And you are letting him live? What is wrong with you?"

Red looked at Purple. "Nothing is wrong with me. And I felt a simple execution would do no good. There will be a fight to the death."

Purple paused for a second. "A fight to the death you say? Well I do like the sound of that. But Zim is a pretty good fighter, who is going against him?" Purple asked, now being a little more relaxed.

"He will fight perfection." Red said. Before Purple could ask him what he meant by that, he snapped his fingers.

"You there! Bring forth Project 002!" He called out to a guard. He quickly left the room to do so.

Purple felt even more confused. "Damn it Red, why am I always to learn these things last?!"

Red shrugged. "Sorry, I bet it gets annoying after a while." He said. Purple only glared.

The guard returned. He was leading someone cloaked in back. Once in the room, the cloak was removed.

Purples face fell at the sight, as Red brightens. It looked exactly like a normal Irken, reaching guard height. But the skin was a chalky white instead of green. The eyes were black instead of red. The only thing that looked normal was the antennas, which hung uselessly off the head.

It walked forward, almost robotically, and bowed for the Tallest.

"What… What is that thing?"

"That Pur, is the future of Irk."

**0o0o0o0**

Zim moved stiffly as a scientist worked on his Pak. He was trying to sort things out, and clear off some questions in his head. For example: What the _hell_ was he doing on the Massive?

The scientist was short, and looked quite generic like the rest. He mad a 'Hrmm' sound. "Irken Zim, your weapons are disabled."

"You don't say." Zim said with a sneer; _as if_ he didn't already know that.

"I am going to fix that." He said uselessly, already picking up the tools for the job.

Zim resisted the urge to smack him. "You go do that."

**o0o0o**

Purple stared at the white form, and began to walk around it. It didn't make a move. Purple looked at Red. "This is the new face of the Irken race?" He asked.

Red nodded.

Purple examined it closely. "It… It has no Pak!"

Red nodded again. "Yes. And thanks to on of Zims calls; I erased one of its weaknesses. Water."

Purple clapped his hands together. "Red, I take back all my doubts! This is the greatest break though in Irken history! You are a hero!"

Red rubbed his chin. "Hero you say? Heh, I like the sound of that."

Purple raised an invisible eyebrow at Project 002. "So… is it a boy or girl? Why hasn't it spoken yet?"

Red shrugged. "It really has no gender. It won't define itself. And it won't speak, that is the only flaw. But this is the real kicker. We built it so it will follow any order at all for the Tallest: us. It can reason. And the best part, the logic is based on what it observes, not on emotions."

Purple looked a little startled. "You mean it functions like a robot? The next generation of the Irken race is going to be an army of robotic silent ghosts?"

"You say that as if it were a bad thing."

Purple laughed nervously. "I will have to get used to that idea, but I am sure that is a very good thing. Very good indeed..."

Red looked at Purple darkly. "That's good. Keep thinking like that." He leaves the room quickly. Purple looks at Project 002 again and sighed.

"002? Please follow myself and Red." He said. The robot nodded slightly. Purple quietly leaves the room, having the 'Irken' follow him.


	25. Chapter 25

**Looking back, I am not sure I named this story right.**

**But it is a little too late to change that. 24 chapters too late,**

**Tolerance should have been named Betrayal instead.**

**Meh, I'll save that title for the sequel…**

…

**YOU DIDN'T HEAR THAT!**

**(Runs off screaming)**

**Anyway, the contest will stay open for a while. I only got one submission, but I have some say that they are drawing, or thinking about entering. But don't think I'll wait forever!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the original IZ characters or plot.**

"But Dwicky, I just have to know how Zim is doing!" Dib pleaded.

Dwicky shrugged helplessly. "Sorry little guy. I just help out with the human children. I really don't have any power."

Dib sighed. "Okay, that's fine. I'll just go to Ryuji."

Dwicky laughed. "You can't do that ether. He is in the training simulator. Best you don't disturb him, unless you want your head blown off."

Dib frowned. "Come on! What can I do?"

Gaz smirked. "You could go to General Gogglebutt."

Dibs face fell. "Oh _hell no."_

Dwicky raised an eyebrow. "You are no too fond of him?"

"He wants to measure my foot!"

"Oh please." Dwicky said. "When I came here, he wanted me to shave my head for hair samples."

Dib fidgeted. He did not want to shave his head. The scythe hair was his thing.

Dwicky kneeled down and poked Dibs cast. "How long you had that on?"

"What? Oh, for six or seven hours I guess." Dib said casually. "Someone on the main ship told me to keep it on for a few days."

"You better take it off now." Dwicky said quickly.

Gaz looked at Dwicky, and tilted her head to one side. "But his leg was shot."

Dwicky helped Dib unwrap the cast. Dib winced at the foul healing jell. Dwicky shrugged. "We humans, as you know are relatively fast healers. Not faster then the Irkens, but more so then most of the other alien species. And this cast was built for slow healers with severe wounds. Dib only had a flesh wound."

Dib rubbed his sore leg, but sure enough, no trace of a bullet was there. But his skin had a light purple tint. "Oh gross."

"There is a room you can wash up down the hall. Then when you find Gogglebutt, ask him for another pair of boots or shoes. He might have something."

Gaz scrunched her nose. "That smells horrible!"

"You don't have to come with me." Dib said rolling his eyes. He began to walk away. But Gaz followed him anyway.

**o0o0o0o0o**

Zim walked stiffly as he was followed by the two guards. He needed to find a way to get away, but how can he? They had those prods held up in waiting; and with twice as much training then Zim ever had.

He growled in frustration. For the moment, he will have to do what they say. He cleared his throat a little. "So, just what is going to happen to me?"

The guards didn't answer him. Zim tried a different question. "Where am I being leaded?"

No answer. No surprise.

Zim tried once more. "Am I going to meet with the Tallest again soon?"

Still nothing. Zim gave up asking. Soon enough, they reached a room and locked him in there. One guard pointed at him. "Stay." And with that, they left.

Zim spat in their direction. "What am I, an earth mutt?! I should rip your pak into shreds!"

"Don't have the guts to threat them in their face eh? Last one had more guts then ye."

Zim turned to find a cell mate. It was an Irken, elderly looking and weak. He looked at Zim tiredly and patted the seat next to him. "Sit down mate; it shall be a long wait."

Zim crossed his arms. "I feel like standing." He said stubbornly.

The Irken shrugged. "Suit ye self. The name is Fob by the way."

Zim narrowed his glare. "Mines is Zim." He turns his back on him and stared out the small window of the cell. It was a small room, and was lit brightly. The walls were bleached white and would blind you for a second before your eyes could adjust.

Fob chuckled. "Zim? Heh, is that the same Zim that created that blob monster which ate the previous Tallest?"

Zim grunted. "Yes, but that could of happened to anyone."

"Are you the same Zim that clogged the smeet chute and caused the first age of darkness?"

Zim shot a warning look at Fob. "Yeah, that was me too."

Fob rocked himself back and forth a little. "You caused the second age of darkness too, when you snuck out of the underground training sessions, didn't you?"

Zim pointed at Fob angrily. "HEY! And horrible as all that was, it was GREAT horrible things. I dare you to top that!"

Fob chuckled. "I would, but I am too old. Last generation's product. See my pak? None of the new machines are compatible with it, so I am basically useless. Yep, I am a victim of your new jibby jabbing whachama call its, and hula hoops."

Zim kept pointing at the old man, even though most of the anger was not there anymore. "Look, hula hoops had nothing to do with it. And you should have upgraded your pak!"

Fob sighed. "That's what the other youngling said, poor lass… Look." Fob stood up and turned around. The modern pak is round, like a turtle shell. Fobs had a gray block; just a bulky square block, held up with a belt and shoulder straps.

"As I said before, _I am just too old. _I swear; you kids need to respect your elders, build a retirement home or something! But Noooooo, it is always snacks, bombs, and hula hoops with your kind!"

Zim crossed his arms tiredly. "Whatever. Curse my youth and the hula hoops if you want. I don't care."

Fob nodded. "Thank young man! My earlier cell mate never would let me speak…"

Zim gave up, and decided to talk with the old man. There wasn't anything else to do…

"Eh, Fob?" Zim asked, finally sitting down. "Who was this female you keep speaking of?"

Fob perked up and sat next to Zim. "Ah, pretty young lass. She was my last cell mate before… well you know." Fob drew his claw across his throat and made a ripping noise with his voice.

Zim winced. He knew he might be next.

Fob continued. "Anyway, I fear she might have been insane. Always ranting about some new Irken body, and how morally wrong it was. Heh, skin of white and soulless black eyes she said. Anyway, she must of saw _something_ because whatever it was, she tried to destroy it. But she failed and was later executed."

Zim thought about that. He agreed the Irken must have been insane, because it sure _sounded_ insane. "Fob, what was her name?"

Fob rubbed his chin. "Eh, I think it was Tak. Yeah, her name was Tak."

Zim jumped back up into a standing position. "_Tak? _The Tallest killed Tak? I knew her! She was a real jerk, and tried to take…over…my…mission." The feeling of depression nearly took over again, but Zim managed to suppress it.

Fob sighed. "I take it you finally found out about your false mission."

Zim looked at his feet. "I don't care. Wasn't like I didn't deserve it…" Fob looked at the young Irken, and silently admired his will power not to cry. Anyone else would have broken down by now.

Fob smiled sadly. "I find it a bloody shame that you are next to die. I am just here because they don't know where else to put me. Ye children need to watch out for each other, and yet… I can't tell you how many souls I see walk in and out of this cell."

Zim shrugged. "I might have a chance. Tallest Red didn't execute me on the spot. Maybe…"

Fob quickly waved his finger. "Ah, ah, ah! Don't finish that sentence. False hope is for fools, and only brave dare take the truth."

Zim blinked. "I don't get it. You don't seem like an idiot, but you are so old!"

Fob glared. "What kind of talk is that? With age comes wisdom, I am no senile old coot! Why I should ring your hind and make me self a coat hanger with your skin! Rotten young…" the old man continued to rant, nearly boring Zim to sleep.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Dib walked barefooted on the cold concrete floor. He was a bit frustrated the healing jell ruined the ends of his pants, but no use complaining about it now.

"I wonder what Zim is doing." Gaz said. She tossed her doll into the air and caught it. "I bet he annoyed that Lard filled goat to bulling his own horns out of his head."

Dib nodded, half listening. He walked into Gogglebutt's lab and looked around the desk where he first saw him. He was not there. "Hey! Freakish bald alien! Where are you?" He called out.

A squawking sound was made as Gogglebutt emerged from a messy pile of old books, which had covers made of leather and steal. "I know not a freakish bald alien, but I am here… yes." He said, closing a book.

"Yeah, my brother and I want to talk with Zim. So, make with the communication bird man!" Gaz said.

Gogglebutt blinked and clicked his beak. "What is a bird exactly young female?"

Dib shook his head. "That's not important. Look, we won't be much trouble. We just want to talk to Zim."

Gogglebutt let out a high pitch giggle. "You mean that dirty Irken? Ah, my former student Lard Narr took care of him. That Irken is back where he belongs, on the Massive."

Dibs eyes widened. "What?"

Gogglebutt crossed his arms. "Irken Zim is on the massive. A prisoner's trade took place, and thank goodness I say… yes. A Resisty ship is no place for a… GACK!" Dib had lost what little sense he had left since they left Earth. Dib grabbed General Gogglebutt by the throat and lifted him into the air.

"Zim is on the Massive? Don't you know what is going to happen? _They are going to kill him!"_ Dib hissed with murder on his mind.

Gogglebutt kicked and squirmed, but to no avail. Dib had a strong grip, and no one was there to stop him.

"Let go!" He squeaked.

Dib narrowed his eyes. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't break you neck, right now!"

Gaz shoved her brother, trying to get him to release. "Stop! Stop it right now! Narr did this, not him. You are only going to get yourself killed in the end!"

Words fell on deaf ears.

Gogglebutt scanned the room for any hope of escape. "I… I can help you!"

"_How can you?"_

"A s-ship! I will give you a ship, yes!" Gogglebutt shuddered. "Weapons, a ship, please! Just leave!"

"Where can I get them?!"

"Dib, please!" Gaz pleaded.

Gogglebutt was lowered to the ground. "The…The ship. Weapons, every thing you need to defend yourself is on the left wing of the ship. The ID card you need for passage is on that desk… Yes."

Dib felt bad for scaring him so badly, but he was a man on a mission. Dib quickly left the room without another word.


	26. Chapter 26

**This story has over 14,000 hits…**

**SUPER SPECIAL AWSOME!**

**Yeah, I am so like that!**

**Oh, and I made a drawing of Fob. You gotta love the old people.**

**And as for the contest, I will be posting the URL's on my Profile. Speaking of which, I hadn't updated in years. Oh man, you can't find a worse procrastinator then me!**

**And will someone else enter? Please? Default wins really are not fun. (Even though that's how I win 50 percent of the time)**

**DISCLAIMER: You know what? I DO OWN INVADER ZIM! Ha! What are you going to do now fool?**

**(FBI guns me down)**

…**Great, now I'm dead.**

"People of Irk! The war is nearly over and we shall be the victors!" Red called out to his people. The Irkens replied with a roar of excitement.

Purple seemed a little distracted, but quickly shook it off. "Yes! Soon, the entire universe shall bow at our feet! Anyone who isn't Irken will serve the Irkens, _or else_!"

The Irkens roared again. The very walls began to shake. Once everyone got settled down again, Red spoke again.

"But our enemies will fall even faster! I am proud to announce a new weapon, a _new _Irken!" Red said with much enthusiasm. The crowd began to hush in wonder.

Purple made a show of pointing at a rather large box behind him. It was shaped like a coffin, but think nothing of that; most Irkens never even seen a coffin, so the design was accidental.

"Behold the new face of the Irken race!" Purple announced with fake gusto. He felt something inside him tearing up his insides. He felt afraid of 002.

The box opened, displaying a wonderful combination of lasers and smoke. 002 stepped out in the open and narrowed its eyes at the large crowd. To someone on the outside, 002 would seem like it was angry. But it wasn't. It was calculating the room size, the exact number of life forms in room, escape routes, possible weapons, and behavior patterns.

Project 002 is built for utterly perfect logic. Its logic is undeniable.

The crowd gasped and murmured to themselves.

"_Look at that white skin!"_

"_Those black eyes…!"_

"_It's Amazing!"_

"_It's frightening."_

"_Is that what we are going to look like in the future?"_

"_Imagine the smeets!"_

"_It has no Pak!"_

"_No Pak? Impossible!"_

"_Impressive."_

Red continued to smirk. Purple let out a similar smile, a real one. This next announcement was hard to hate.

"And that's not all! What better ways to test this new Irken body then to have it kill off one of the worst Irkens?" Red asked the crowd.

Purple pointed to the sky for dramatics. "Zim! 002 will kill off Zim! And for further punishment to the vile defect, his name which he is so very proud of will not be listed on the match. He will be called Defective 001!"

The Irkens roared, pleased at that news. They chanted 'Kill the defect!' over and over. Words of hate and pride spread across Irk like a wildfire.

**0o0o0o0**

Dib slides the ID card to gain entrance into the weapon vault. The doors slid open, letting out a cold blast of air. The boy shivered, but walked inside anyway. He picked up the biggest and dangerous weapon he could find. (Remember, he_ is _a boy)

"Dang, this is so heavy…" He set it on one of the countertops. He scanned the walls for another weapon.

Suddenly, he felt something shove him against the wall. Stunned, he turned around to find his sister. She didn't let up. She moved on to punching, nearly causing Dib to crumple to the floor. Defensively, Dib grabbed his sister's wrists. She growled at this, and made a fuss of trying to break free and return to hitting.

Hunching slightly, Dib stared down at his sister. "What is wrong with you?"

Gaz spat in Dibs face. "You idiot, you stupid idiot! I'll kill you! I'll kill you so you can't go!" She screamed.

Dib blinked. "Wait, what?" He looked and felt confused.

"What makes Zim so important? Why can't you stay?!" Gaz was on the brink of tears now. "I… I already lost dad, I don't want to lose you too!"

Dib stared blankly at her, and slowly released his grip. She was shaking, and looked terrified.

She swallowed and talked a little more. "I want things the way they were. I want to be home playing my game. I want you to hate Zim again. I want dad back, making toast in the kitchen." She whispered. "If you die… I…"

Dib patted her on the head, like he did when they were really little. Except this time, Gaz didn't scream at him. "Gaz, I am not going to die. I am going to get Zim, come back and things are going to get a lot better." Dib smiled, like he did before this whole mess started. "You know I never break a promise, and I promise to come back for you."

Gaz nodded slowly. She didn't dare cry. There wasn't time for that.

Dib did something that startled her. He hugged her. "And when I come back, I expect you to be back to your old self and threaten me about that nightmare world, okay? I'll see you soon." He said half jokingly.

And he left. Gaz didn't budge from that spot, even though Dib was already in a Vortain Voot cruiser, and out of the ship.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Fob was finished ranting about how things were when he was Zims age. Zim sat though stories of man-eating monsters and how he had to walk for miles though sand storms just to eat a bag of stale chips.

Now the old Irken was fast asleep. A little drool seeped out of the corner of his mouth. Zim sighed and got up. There had to be something to do in the room.

He tried sitting on the other side of the room. He tried using his spider legs to walk on the ceiling. He even tried rolling on the floor, like Gir did at home. It was no use. He was still bored.

"Sheesh…" He looked out the window of his door. Naturally, there was a guard. He seemed as bored as Zim felt as well. Zim frowned. By just looking at the idiot, you can tell this was his first day on the job. The poor guy kept nodding off at every second, glancing side to side to make sure he wasn't caught.

"They couldn't even give me an experienced guard! Disrespectful…" He thought about taking advantage of the guard, but knew that would be useless. There were still cameras, and guards never carry the keys. There was a reason why no one escaped the Irkens prison, no matter where was the location.

Zim watched the monitor on the other side of the hall. He had to squint a little, but not too much. Irkens have a keen sense of sight. It was a news bulletin. Something about a death matches between 001 and 002.

"Me…?" Zim shook his head. He felt a connection to the title '001', as if it was an old memory. Something he wasn't supposed to remember. "Impossible, my name is Zim, not 001. That must be a name belonging to a stupid drone."

For some reason, he felt like he insulted himself.

Fob snored loudly, scaring Zim a little. Since Fob's Pak was so old, it didn't run as well as the newer models. And on top of that, sleeping was the highlight of the old mans day.

"Even when you sleep, you just can't _shut up_!" Zim hissed. He laid his back against the wall and slid down to the floor. A piece of him wanted Red to come in though the door already and tell him what the big surprise was already. Another piece felt like he already knew.


	27. Chapter 27

**The chapter after the next will be your last chance.**

**Someone else will have to enter by that time or else Genaleah wins.**

**I MEAN IT!**

**Anyway, enjoy this new chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of the original!**

The crowd of Irkens had gone and left from the announcement dome. They were excited, and could not stop talking about Project 002. And the promise of Zims head on a platter seemed like a wonderful addition to it.

Something perfect killing off something defective: it sounded poetic.

The Tallest were resting in their quarters on Irk. It seemed like a palace, without the primitive oil paintings and Persian rugs. The Arts were considered a waste of time on Irk. You will fight in the military, work for the military, make snacks or serve the snacks. If you had an unusual level of intelligent or height, your range of options varied a little more.

Red was watching a television. He was glad that showing off 002 was having a positive effect on the rest of Irk. If any of the other Irkens thought differently, reprogramming their Paks would be a huge pain.

Purple was in another room, looking for a bag of chips he had misplaced in the morning. His search leads him to Reds private office. It would never be there, but he had already looked everywhere else.

"Now, where are those chips…?" Purple scanned around room, peering into shelves. He finds a pile of papers on the desk. He felt a little peeved that yet once again, his so called friend left him out on another decision.

In a small fit of defiance and curiosity, he picked up the first page and began to read. It wasn't a peace treaty from another planet or a request from an Invader for more supplies. It was a demand from Red; a demand to shut down all Smeet Factories in the planet in a matter of hours.

Purples face fell in horror as he read on. This would kill countless smeets, before they can even open their eyes! And for what reason did Red have? So there would be room to begin the first generation of the new Irken race. Purple knew it would happen, but so soon?

He wasn't going to take this any more.

He stormed out of the room and towards Red. "RED!"

Red looked at purple, about to tell him to not yell indoors when he was interrupted by a soccer punch to the cheek.

"What the hell Purple! What is your problem?" Red yelled, slightly confused and yet very enraged.

"This! This is my problem!" Purple threw the form at Red. It fluttered to the ground uselessly. Red knew what it was. Purple narrowed his eyes at him. "I have known you for years Red! But I never once thought you would do something so evil!"

Red folded his arms. "You are overreacting." He said simply.

That only made Purple even angrier. "_Overreacting!?_ You are killing smeets! You have Irken blood on your hands, and I will never forgive you for that!"

Red began to chuckle darkly. "Why Pur! I never thought you cared so much for smeets." He said mockingly.

"Shut up! Just shut up! I will have no more of this; I am going to cancel that request before it is too late." Purple turned to leave when Red grabbed his arm harshly.

"You are going nowhere." Red said. "Now settle down."

"I am not a child, let me go!" Purple snapped. "In case you forgot, I have power here as well. I am a Tallest!"

Red had a look of pity as he stared at Purple. "I see nothing is going to change your mind about this."

Purple sighed deeply, and looked relieved as Red slowly released his arm. "No. I'm sorry but I cannot value this creation of yours over the citizens of Irk."

"And I am sorry to hear that." Red said solemnly.

Before Purple could react, Red had punctured Purpled Pak with one slash of his own spider leg. Purples eyes widen with surprise at the brutish attack, and found himself too paralyzed to do anything about it.

"Red…!" Purple squeaked. Normally an Irken would have ten minutes to live without a Pak. But a direct attack like that shortens the time considerably. The body has no time to adjust, and the Pak loses its power much more quickly.

Red had no sign of regret on his face. His eyes were cold. "I will give you the same line we gave Zim. _It is time we let go of our fun and games to ensure a safe and overwhelming victory._"

"You're insane." That was the last thing Purple whispered before Red pulled out the main engine from the Pak and crushed it. He watched as his once friend began to die away.

"Am I?" Red smirked. He can use this murder to his advantage.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Dib was drifting in space. He found the GPS on the ship, and was moving on auto pilot towards Irk. It was a steady course, but it was painfully slow. Even though he was moving at top speed, it still didn't feel fast. The main reason for it was that Dib was feeling so impatient. He tensed up every time he spots a planet, and watched it speed past him.

Suddenly, a screen started to blink. Slightly alarmed, Dib wasn't sure what to do. He decided to press the large button that was in front of the screen, placed neatly in the middle.

Lard Narr's face appeared on the screen. Dib felt foolish, all it was, was a communicator.

The alien had a smug look on his face. "Dib, I am sorry for bothering you but General Gogglebutt is having a panic attack. Do you know anything about it?"

Dib froze. He was caught red handed. "I… I can explain!"

Narr waved him off. "Don't bother. Gaz told me about what happened. You are going after Zim right?"

Dib could only nod.

"Well, that right there is a suicide mission. You better turn around if you don't want to be blown to smithereens." Narr said. He looked so wise with his eyes closed under his goggles. But he also seemed egotistic.

"I can't." Dib said quietly.

Lard Narr opened one eye curiously. "Why, you don't know how?"

"No, I know how." Dib said, sounding a little insulted. "I just can't… I won't turn back."

Lard Narr seemed interested. "And why is that so?"

Dib had a guilty look on his face. "Zim never once did anything kind towards me or my sister back on Earth. I was the same way with him. But since this whole mess started, I started to realize what I big screw up I was. He had it way worse then me, and here I was complaining about not having any attention or respect."

Lard Narr nodded softly. He didn't interrupt.

Dib continued. "Zim was the only one who gave me the light of day. I betrayed him, horribly. And the consequence of that was great. Now I know who it feels not being able to go back home. And now it is happening again. Zim is trying so hard to straighten things out in his life, and no one will let him have a chance." Dib began to speak rapidly. "He has changed. He isn't the selfish blood thirsty alien I met on Earth. Maybe he never was. Maybe he was more like me then I thought. Maybe he was so preoccupied with impressing his leaders, he lost himself. He lost who he really was."

"Do you really believe that?" Lard Narr asked.

Dib nodded.

Narr sighed. "Then you were a better friend then I ever was." He saluted Dib as he would to soldiers before battle. "I cannot say I will follow you. I cannot say I have faith in you that you will succeed. But I will say you are the bravest soul I ever meet among the stars. God speed Dib."

With that, the transmission was cut. Dib looked out the windshield to find that he was approaching his destination.


	28. Chapter 28

**Vroom, Vroom, VOOM!**

**I laughed evilly as I read your reviews. You thought that was bad? You thought that was awful?**

**You know nothing!**

**But I really am a nice person; let us have tea on the patio!**

**Chip, chip; diary oh!**

**Anyway…**

**ONE MORE CHAPTER TILL THE CONTEST IS OVER! SUBBMENT YOUR ART IN AN E-MAIL OR PM ME ON GAIAONLINE! USERNAME: Doma Yuset**

**((Or, place an URL in your Reveiw))**

**HURRY!**

**  
AND IF YOU FORGOT THE PRIZE…**

**It is a REQUEST for me to write ANY ONESHOT of YOUR CHOICE.**

**Meaning, if your will is slash: There will be slashing! If it is a character death, there will be death! If it is a random humor story about flying pigs, then let it be so!**

**Just no rated M rated stuff. (That includes smut, excess cursing and such) That's where I draw the line.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of the original! I am too busy trying to take over anime…**

The news of the death of Tallest Purple spread across Irk like an infectious virus. Some didn't register the news immediately and went into a state of denial. Others screamed, as if someone had stolen their very soul.

Vows of revenge were soon sworn. Chants of anger and rage were heard across the land. The people of Irk wanted the murders head on a plate. And they wanted it _now._

They had enough of Zims antics. This time, he had gone too far.

Tallest Red himself made a personal announcement. There was no smoke or lasers. No show to be made. He gave a detailed description of how Zim had escaped his private cell and killed off Tallest Purple. Tallest Red was lucky enough to escape with his life.

At least, that was the story being told.

And they ate it up, as if it were their last supper.

It was all too deliciously wonderful for Red to handle. Zim was now the poster boy for defects. And 002 were what all living things should strive for.

What was even more amazing to Red is that he even found a way to bring in some personal humor into all this. Renaming Zim as Defective 001 was a way to commemorate Sporks' successful failure.

Former Tallest Spork did in fact gone father in his research then Red had at first thought. He was already experimenting with physical experiments; desperately trying to bring his idea to life. He was the Irken version of Frankenstein.

Only one of Sporks' experiments succeeded. And even then, the whole project was a failure.

Yes. I am sorry to report; Zim was a failure since birth. He was in fact a defect.

While his IQ was nothing to complain about, his metal health was a disaster. His physical strength was only a little above normal, and his only bragging right was his agility.

But those skills were shot to hell when it was discovered how mentally unstable he was.

Zim was sent to be raised in a generic smeeting factory. He was to be acknowledged no different then the other smeets. This way, it would be slightly easier to figure out in what ways exactly Zim was more superior to the average Irken. Was he motivated?

Well, _yeah_, he was. But Spork quickly realized, this _thing_ was useless as well, _it _was a mistake. In shame, Spork gave up on Zim. He forgot about him. He moved on. And then, was later killed by him. Life sucks like that.

Red chuckled to himself. Well, he thought it was funny.

But now it was time for some business. He decides to drop by the prisoners' hatch, where Zim was being kept.

His ego inflated a little more, as he glanced at several royal guards bowing at his presence. It reminded Red how powerful he was. What a powerful figure he was to the people of Irk. He can commit murder, and get away with it without batting an eye.

The doors to Zims cell slid open, allowing Red inside.

Zims expression was priceless. It was a mix between confusion, betrayal, lost admiration, and painful obedience. Zims Pak was still programmed to obey the Tallest, no matter the cost. And although he was rebelling lately, his knees felt like jelly at the sight of his leader.

"What… Why are you here?" Zim stuttered. Red felt like laughing. He could tell Zim was trying to figure out a curse word or an insult to call him by. But that will never happen. Reds programming was too powerful, and Zim was just too _weak._

He opened his mouth to speak, when his eye caught another figure in its sight. Fob.

Red let out an annoyed sigh. "Old man, get out of here." He said sharply.

Fob seemed a little dazed, and blinked at the Tallest. "Why… Tallest Spork! How are you old friend?"

"I am Red you senile Irken, now get out." Red pointed out the door.

Fob bowed quickly and left. Fob couldn't be programmed, not that would matter. He couldn't even remember what year it was.

Red turned to Zim. It was time. "Zim, the people hate you." Red said.

Zim frowned. "You already told me that."

"I mean more so then usual." Red said with mock sadness. "You killed someone very important."

Zim thought really hard about this. He hasn't killed anyone lately. "What are you talking about?"

"My good friend Purple, of course! You murdered a third Tallest."

Zim felt a little dizzy. "What? But I didn't! I was in here, the whole time!"

"But you weren't." Red countered. Red held back his laughter, watching Zim squirm in pain and confusion. His Pak was telling his to obey and believe Red, but his brain was telling him that was a lie.

Red changed the subject. "Anyway, when you came, I promised you a surprise."

Zim looked up, hoping for the impossible.

"You will be fighting to the death with our most dangerous warrior." Red informed. "The match is tonight."

Zim felt his heart stop. "002, 001" He whispered.

Red raised an invisible eyebrow. "What was that?"

Zim shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Zim wasn't entirely sure what was happening, but he was sure of one thing. He had to get his head on straight, or else he won't survive to see the Irken sunrise.

**0o0o0o0o0o0**

Dib landed behind a small moon. He needed to rest and figure out his game plan. He was sure he couldn't just waltz in and say, "Hey guys! I am just here to pick up my friend Zim. Please and thanks!"

Chances are they will kill him the second he puts a foot on land just for being a human.

And on top of that, Irk was _huge!_ It would take him weeks just to figure out where Zim was. Or maybe just for a hint of where Zim was.

Dib dug though the ship, for the weapons that he borrowed from the Resisty. He saw something strange in the back. He crawled on the floor and opened a small cabinet. He pulled out an odd looking arm brace. Hoping he wouldn't regret this in the end, he slipped it on. It fits, but nothing happened.

The brace sensed Dibs body heat and started to blink. There was a robotic voice in the brace, but it wasn't AI. It seemed recorded. "**Greetings. The Halo-Band is designed for smaller life forms, so if you are having difficultly bending your elbow, or is un able to wear this product on the arm completely. Please remove the band."**

Dib blinked. He started to move his arm a little, and didn't seem to have any trouble.

"**Also, if you have more then two arms and two legs, please remove the product. If you have large horns, or other distinctive features, please remove the product. If you…"**

"For the love of God! Get to the point!" Dib shouted.

"**Halo-Band activating. Five. Four. Three. Two. One…"**

The band began to glow brightly, and covered Dib with a blanket of what was best described as static. It didn't hurt, but it was very strange. But that changed very quickly.

Dib let out a scream, as a jolt of electricity ran though his arm, and into the rest of his body. He wanted to rip off the band, but was too paralyzed to do so. Darkness seeped out from the corner of his eyes, and blinded him. He let out a scream for help, but of course, no one can hear him.

He crumpled onto the floor, unconscious. The only sign of life was from his heavy breathing and the Halo-Band speaking.

"**Halo-Band activated. Thank you."**


	29. Chapter 29

**AHHHHHHH!**

**(Screams and flails)**

**The contest! It is OVER!**

**Only two contestants entered. Genaleah and ****Nikooru-chan**** submitted two artworks. ((You can see them on my profile once I update it))**

**I had to choose between a great friend and a shy DA buddy.**

**So I let 002 make the decision for me, because I take things too personal.**

**002: Calculating… The winner of the art contest is**** Genaleah. Reasons: a show of different scenes and was able to give a sense of what the story is all about.**

**Me: Thank you! Genaleah may now request a one-shot from me. I await your orders.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of the original!**

Zim was lead out of his chambers to the battle arena. Zim didn't know whether to be proud or scared, as the arena was left unused for hundreds of years. In a way, he was bringing a piece of history back to life. But the cost of that were his life, his honor, and even his name.

However, he wasn't mad. He knew if it were someone else, he himself would be in the crowds, cheering for a bloodbath. It was sick, but it was culture.

The arena itself was enormous. It was like the Greek coliseum, times ten. And it wasn't in ruins. Unlike humans, Irkens would either destroy a building or maintain the foundation of it. Nothing was to go to waste. This was another bragging right Irkens possessed over other species.

On the bright side, if Zim was to win, his honor would be restored. He would live as royalty as the Tallest did. He tried to focus on that, and convinced himself that he wasn't going to lose.

The son was already setting. The sky turned to a deep hue of purple, and stars by the millions appeared. Zim took a moment to look at them. It was a while since he could do that, without pollution clouding the sky.

A sharp tug pulled at his shackles. "Stop lazing defect." The guard said sharply.

Zim replied with a growl. After his short conversation with Tallest Red, he was turned over to this royal guard. The Tallest needed to be at the arena early, for appearances. Zim wouldn't see him until the match started. And the match wouldn't start for another thirty minutes.

He was lead into a stone chamber and was told to wait until after the introduction. Zim took a deep breath and waited for the moment he would be released onto the field.

**0o0o0o0**

Dib let out a painful groan as he pushed himself off the floor. "Damn aliens and their machines… what was the point of all that?" He said to himself. He held his head opened his eyes. He couldn't focus his eyes for a second.

He sat in the dark, waiting for his eyes to adjust. Nothing seemed to have change. He didn't feel any stronger, just very foolish. He got up and grabbed hold of the controls. He needed to get down to Irk _now._ Lord knows how much time he wasted.

Looking at his hands, he noticed he was wearing a pair of black gloves. "Was I wearing theses before take off?" He wondered out loud to himself. But he quickly shook off the question. Now wasn't the time to be distracted.

He quickly landed behind a building. He wondered if he was seen, and suddenly felt very paranoid. Quietly, he snuck out the ship and quietly made his way though the thin ally. He had an abrupt understanding of Zims rants about his race being superior. Everything was so clean. Not just swept nicely, but completely and utterly spotless. Dib strained for a speck of dust and found none. And this was only the ally.

Dib wondered how he was going to get around the area without getting caught. He peered around the corner to see if it was safe to go out.

"YOU THERE!" screamed a voice from behind.

Dib nearly jumped out of skin. He was caught! He looked up at the large guard hovering over him.

The guard crossed his arms. "You should be at the Battle Dome. There is no excuse why you shouldn't be there."

Dib gulped. "Why is that?"

Much to his surprise, he laughed. "My, you really must be a hard worker if you don't know! Defective 001 will be killed today. Don't tell me you didn't buy tickets."

Dib laughed nervously. "Of course I did! I am just… lost." He wondered to himself why the guard hasn't killed him yet, or at least questioned why a non Irken was on an all Irken planet.

"Well then, you need an upgrade on your Paks GPS system. Listen, it is straight ahead. Once you reach the voot shop, turn to your left and BAM! You can't miss it." The guard pointed.

Dib nodded anxiously and quickly took off running. _"Pak, I don't have a Pak!" _He thought to himself. The guard must have been blind! But then he couldn't have been able to see him coming out the ally.

Dib stopped running. "Maybe…"

He looked around and found a reflective surface. He found a window, with a display of advanced weapons. He looked carefully at his reflection. He covered his mouth to keep from screaming.

The Halo Band wasn't as useless as he thought. It was a holographic suit. Just like Tak was able to turn human, Dib was now Irken. Or at least, he looked like one.

Two long stalks were sticking out of his head. Curious, Dib reached out to touch him. He let out a small yelp in surprise to find how cold they were. _He could touch them!_ He knew it wasn't real, but it sure felt real. Alien technology was millions of years ahead of his time.

To go into further detail, Dibs outfit had changed a well. Nothing special, just very similar to what Zim wore. That would explain the gloves he noticed earlier. And his eyes. They were still a light honey brown color, only now they were large and egg-shaped shaped.

Dib smirked. It was going to be a _lot_ easier to get around. Quickly, he started to run towards this arena everyone seems to know so well. He had a good feeling he was going to see Zim there.

**0o0o0o0**

The gates began to rise up, allowing Zim to move forward. It wasn't like he had any other choice. He grimaced as he heard the crowd 'booing' at his appearance. It was even possible to say he was able to feel the waves of hatred, as if it were an angry swarm of bees.

Red was safely on a throne, high above the arena. There used to be two chairs, but since the murder… Well, it only made sense to remove one.

Red rested his chin upon folded fingers, looking quite relaxed. Zim quickly broke his glare, and tried to focus on something else. "Who am I fighting?"

The gate opposite of him rose. For the first time, he was finally able to get a sense of what it is exactly he was fighting.

_Perfection._

The chains were removed and Zim was left alone with 002 in the arena. He pointed angrily at the project.

"Lies! That isn't an Irken, the rules state that I have to fight an Irken!" Zim screamed. His only replies were chuckles and insults from the audience. Zim looked at everyone, waiting for an explanation. "Someone tell me! Why am I not fighting an Irken?"

An Irken rose from the crowd. "That _is _an Irken you DEFECT!"

"You are lying!" Zim argued. "It has no Pak! The skin is…"

It was Tallest Red himself who interrupted him. "Zim! Silence yourself." Red ordered. His voice echo's, as he was speaking though a microphone. "This is project 002, the new breed of Irkens. Feel honored, for you are looking at the next generation of the Irken race. It has all our strengths and none of our weakness. No emotions, so there is no second guessing about killing, a resistance to water, and a stronger tolerance to germs. I'm proud to say that I even found a way to get rid of our only weakness. A way to live without the need of the Pak."

He says all this without a hint of hiding his pride. Zim took a closer look at 002. He understands why Tak was executed. He understands why Red was prolonging his death.

"It was all for you." Zim whispered. No one heard him but 002.

002 stared at Zim during this time. It examined him. It summed him up.

**Target: Zim**

**Status: Defect**

**Current weakness: Fear, confusion, anger. A poor defense.**

**Strategy: Speed around, and rip apart his Pak.**

**Chances of Defectives survival: Three percent.**

Red pointed at the night sky. "Let the battle began!"

And true to its programming, 002 leapt into the air to jump behind Zim in order to kill him off quickly.

But Zim is an unstable factor, and did not agree with 002's chances of success. Once 002 were in the air, Zim lunged towards the ground, with his back facing the ground. Using his spider legs, he quickly guided himself to the wall.

002 landed on the ground and glared at Zim. But it wasn't angry. Anger is an emotion, and emotions are a weakness.

Zim took out a blaster from his Pak, silently praying thanks that his weapons were no longer disabled. He opened fire on 002, aiming for the head and stomach.

But 002 is perfection. It surprised Zim and started to run towards the blasts. It barreled dived between the shots, and never got a scratch! It lunged for Zim and extended its claws. Zim could see that they could easily rip though his flesh. Even if he was to shot 002 again, he would still be cut up.

So Zim used his legs to scatter across the wall, moving at a frightening speed. 002 slammed into the wall, and sunk the razor like claws into the wall and began to chase Zim that way.

The crowd craned their necks, trying to keep up with the action. The tension began to thicken.

Zim glanced back and started to open fire again. 002 dodged with ease, for it was difficult to aim while moving. And on top of that, doing this, Zim was forced to slow down.

002 took advantage, and used its powerful legs to jump back down to the ground, and lee once more at the wall. This time, 002 was successful in making contact with Zim. The two tumbled off the wall, and fell down back onto the ground.

Zim was forced to use every one of his extra legs in order to attempt at shoving 002 off. 002 had a death grip on his arms, slowly cutting though his skin.

Zim let out a scream, frustrated that he wasn't strong enough.

002 started to glare at Zim, and stared at him in the eyes. The data ran though its thoughts.

**Target: Zim**

**Weapon: Disarmed**

**Strategy: **

Zim stared in horror as he was forced to watch as the white beast opened its mouth. The jaw seemed to unhinge, making room for the two sets of razor sharp teeth. They were long and many, and pink liquid started to drip onto Zims face.

The image shattered.

The people of Irk, the one who were in the arena, watching and the ones watching the match on a television at home, they all became speechless. 002 was going to…eat…

The only one that wasn't surprised was Red. He was the one who built 002 after all. But 002 didn't just randomly devour its enemies, no… That would be barbaric. 002 has no Pak. It needed a life source. The next generation needed to _eat_ a living organism. They need to eat at least one life form a month.

Red thought is not only helpful for clearing a battlefield of corpses, but slightly _healthier_then constantly eating snacks.

His insanity was beginning to show. And the Irkens were starting to see that.

Zim closed his eyes, hoping his end would be quick. "I can't…"

Suddenly, 002 let out a murderous scream into the sky, and fell abruptly off Zim.

Everyone, Zim, the Irkens, 002, and Red stared in complete shock at a somewhat short Irken holding a Resisty branded gun in his hands. Determined brown eyes darted across the scene. He stared at Zim.

"So… What's up?"


	30. Chapter 30

**HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!**

**Even though this is rather early… I am dressing up as Pinhead from ****hellraiser**

**Zim is dressing up as an alien and Dib is dressing up as a paranormal investigator!**

**…Wait.**

**Ah well.**

**On another note, I feel uneasy about this chapter for some reason. As if I had suddenly started to suck at writting. My friend says its just stress. But please be honest.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of the original!**

_"How dare h__im__…"_

_"Who the hell…"_

_"Is he insane!?"_

_"Why is he holding a rebel weapon?"_

_"I don't understand."_

_"Is this part of the show?"_

_"Is there something wrong?"_

_"Is he a guard? What is he doing?"_

_"An ally of Zims?"_

_"For the Tallest?"_

_"I don't recognize him!"_

Mummers and whispers filled the stage. Dib did his best to ignore them. His intension was to save Zim.

Red however, was not happy with this act of heroism. He stands up, automatic silencing the crowds. "You there! Get out of the ring, unless you want an automatic deactivation!" He threatened.

Zim grunted slightly, and scrambled to gain some distance from 002, who was already getting up. He shot a look at Dib, and could not recognize him. He felt just as confused as everyone else.

Dib did not move. Not because he was being stubborn; he was frozen with fear. He had just waltzed in without a real plan. He was in such a rush, he didn't think.

But there was to going back now.

"Zim! Get over here now!" Dib yelled, keeping his weapon trained on the white beast.

Zim recognized that voice. He stared at Dib, bewildered. "How is this…?"

"GET HIM!" Screamed Red, now completely enraged. "Kill them both!"

002 got up, as if there was no pain. Purple pus was leaking out the hole Dib had made, making a small puddle.

**Target: Double: Defective 001, unidentified Irken**

**Weapon: A single Rebel weapon**

**Advantages: Defective is wounded, unidentified Irken is seemingly untrained**

**Strategy: ****Kill the unidentified Irken first, finish off the defective**

**Success: 92.5 percent**

You must know that these thoughts go through 002's head in only a faction of a second. Otherwise, Dib would have had time to blast 002 into next week and turn 'its' skin into Swiss cheese.

002 started to run all fours for Dib, on a zigzag path. Dib opened fire, hoping at least one shot will hit its intentional target. Instead, 002 had just sprinted behind his back and aimed for the Pak. 002 slashed at the purple spotted shell, knowing that could easily kill an Irken.

But Dib wasn't Irken.

Dib shrieked out of pure surprise as his 'Pak' being shattered into countless pieces. The parts disappeared into thin air, as they never existed. Dib quickly ran a few feet away from 002, feeling a bit startled.

002 stood there, trying to make sense of the situation. 002 learns from its surrounding, but it wasn't 'alive' long enough to see the universe in its entirety. The best explanation for 002 for the moment was that Dib was just a defective, a freak of nature, and Irken who did not belong.

Dib however took this time open fire again. This snapped 002 out of where ever its head was and back into the game.

It dodged the shots with ease, taking advantage of Dibs lack of training with an alien weapon. Dib shot three more times before 002 boldly stopped running and was standing only a foot away.

Confused, Dib aimed and fired once more.

_'Click'_

Chuckles came from the audience. Dib tried again, with no result.

No more ammo.

"Oh…That isn't a sign…" Dib started to retreat, taking a few steps back. 002 twitched its claws as it bent its knees for the kill. It jumped up, aiming for neck.

But Zim tackled 002 from the side, letting out a foreign battle cry. Dib reacted immediately by trying to engage in the fight.

002 threw Zim off, and started to slash at him. Zim could only dodge at the moment. He felt the razor like claws nipping at the tips of his antennas.

Dib came up from behind and slammed the gun in the back of 002's head like he saw in the movies. 002 didn't fall unconscious though, but did react in a vicious manner by quickly spinning to atempt to ram a claw right into Dib's skull.

Dib countered the blow up using the empty gun as a shield. Zim used this distraction to grab 002's head to snap the neck, and killing this monster once and for all.

A dead silence as a deafening crack was heard. Even Red himself stood up, shocked.

002 did not fall.

It stood there, with the neck bent at a strange angle. It seemed an electric current went though its body as it went into a standing seizure.

"Zim… What is happening?" Dib asked, sounding a bit disturbed.

Zim shook his head in confusion. "I…don't know. I better finish it."

He reached out to 002, to finish the job when 002 stopped moving and let out a high pitched screech.

Dib stood there blankly as he watched at the Irkens wither in pain, covering their 'ears'. Zim even fell to his knees, and gritted his teeth since he was closest to this sound. Dib could only guess that the Irkens 'superior' hearing was causing them pain. Dib could barely hear 002.

"Stop that!" Dib yelled. He went to deliver his best right hook… something he used to knock out Zim when he talked too much, on 002 to stop the cries. His fist only inches from crashing into 002's face when It abruptly took off running like a crazed animal.

Having nothing to punch, Dib stood there feeling a bit idiotic.

Red could only stare in horror as he lowered his hands. "_What just happened_?"

The only explanation was that when the neck was snapped, the thinking process began to fail. And it will continue to fail until 002 has the intelligence of a mad dog, killing everything in sight. 002 _was_ the first creation of Reds.

This much can be said. This won't be the last of 002. But the next time, it won't be so easily controlled.


	31. Chapter 31

**I utterly and completely despise this chapter.**

**But 'hello', its here.**

**Next chapter will be up in a few days, and trust me; it will be a lot better.**

**But maybe it's just my view…**

**(Begins to growl at chapter)**

**WHY WON'T YOU WORK WITH ME?! (Shakes computer)**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of the original!**

"Zim? I am pretty much out of bright ideas now." Dib said, edging back from the enclosing circle of Irkens. Most of them had jumped from their seats to keep Zim and his 'friend' from getting away.

Zim grimaced. He could easily take on a dozen or so untrained Irkens, but there was at least four thousand. The rest, including the rest of the guards had taken off after 002. Most likely, Red would attempt to repair it or tear it apart to create another one.

And to top it all off, he had Dib with him. That wouldn't be a bad thing; he was a very good partner. But having a partner meant you couldn't escape alone. And for the moment there wouldn't be any escaping.

Zim felt something heavy smack against the side of his head. Rubbing his head sorely, he found it bleeding. At his feet was a rock. He looked up to start yelling at the one reasonable, when he realized, there was going to be a lot more where that came from.

_"I got claustrophobia as a smeet thanks to you!"_

_"Do you have any idea how hard it is to live on a planet with no power for YEARS?"_

_"How can you be so dumb as to attack your own planet?!"_

_"Why didn't you just die on Earth?"_

_"How could you kill Tallest Purple?"_

_"Tallest Spork?"_

_"Tallest __Miyuki__?" _

He heard Dib yell in the back, but couldn't see him. The other Irkens must have gotten to him. Zim knew he couldn't fight _all_ the Irkens. He also knew that they would not go as far as killing him. That was a job for Red.

The mob of Irkens overpowered Zim and held him to the ground, pressing him mouth to the dirt. The same was done to Dib, but in a less hostile manner. They still had no idea who he was, and the fact that he could live without a Pak was baffling.

The crowd gave way to allow their ruler to come though the mass. Red sharply glared down at Zim and leaned down to see him better.

"Well," Red started. "It seems that that you lost the duel." He smirked after saying this.

Zim's face twisted in anger. "002 ran away! By the rules, I should…"

"There was also interference. Two against one isn't all that fair, is it now?" Red interrupted, motioning toward Dib. "I will have to deal with that one latter."

Dib fidgeted in vain to sit up, but could not move from his position. "That THING wasn't Irken! How was that fair, Zim didn't know what he was fighting!"

Red scowled at Dib. No one spoke to him like that, but this brat didn't seem intimidated in the least. "It still didn't concern you, you short little…"

"Don't talk to him that way!" Zim snapped.

Red stared at Zim oddly. "I am Tallest, I speak to whomever and however I want. And that is a luxury you can't enjoy." He straightens himself back into a standing position and looked at the two boys. "As for the rest of you…" Red points to the Irkens who were restraining Zim and Dib. "I want you drag the both of these defects down to the lower levels for execution, but do it separately."

Zim looked back up at Red and squinted. Something was behind him, not so far in the distance. He looks at Dib in question. He saw it too.

Dib cleared his throat. "I don't think that is going to happen."

Red stared at Dib irritably. "Why don't you just shut up? Next word you say, I will personally rip out your…"

"That wasn't a threat **Red.** It's a fact." Zim looked up at Red smugly.

Red looked a bit confused. "Just what the hell are you talking about?"

There was a second of calm, where you can see what is about to happen and still have doubt that it will. A medium sized ship came into view. It was plain to see it wasn't Irken by the logo on the front. The came down though the atmosphere, glowing a hot yellow-red. It seemed as though it would crash in the middle of the arena. Irkens began to flee, to get out of the way.

At the last moment, it swooped back up, casing a hash wind to knock over some of the smaller Irkens. Red however, remained standing.

"Shoot it down! It's the Resisty!" A guard screamed.

"But they never come as one!" Yelled another.

The ship swerved and came back, this time firing missiles. The Irkens, being completely unprepared by all this, began to scatter. This freed Dib and Zim, giving them time to start climbing over the rumble.

Red was torn away from the battle grounds by a pair of guards. He screamed and protested, yelling "Don't just let them get away!"

But in a mist of battle, the sole ruler must be saved. No matter the cost. A guard found himself blasting Red with a sun gun. The Tallest was out like a light, and would not be awakened for at least three hours. Of course this action had a price; the Pak sensed the action and played out its program. The guard fell as well, but he was dead.

This was only natural for without the program, more deaths would occur.

The ship hovered over the ground, hatch already open. Dib brightened and quickly turned off his Hal-Band. "Gaz!"

"Shut up and get in the ship!" Gaz yelled. "It will take seconds for them to pull them selves together."

Zim wasted no time getting himself and Dib in the ship, edger to escape this hellish situation. However, it wasn't over yet. A fleet of battle voots followed closely behind, firing.


	32. Chapter 32

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

**So here is your present. Sorry, the season is nuts. I have little to no time. And I have even less with the Avatar Last Air Bender craze of mines…**

**(Sighs)**

**Zuko, I hate to love you, and love to hate you…**

**Anyway…**

**I love killing people. Do you?**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of the original!**

"Gaz, you have no idea how happy we are to see you!" Dib said, looking exhausted. "No offence Zim, but you planet is way twisted."

"None taken."

"We are not out yet, we got some company." Gaz muttered. She shot a glare at Dib as if to tell him this was his entire fault. In a way, it was, but this was no time to point fingers.

Without warning, she jolts the turbo and speeds forward. Not to far away, there was a small fleet of ships, much smaller then the ones the Irkens sent for the chase. She swoops right over them and left them behind to battle.

Dib and Zim both sorely wished there was a backseat window where they could watch what was happening. But since the Irkens were no longer shooting at the ship, they could only guess the Rebel army was enough to at least distract them.

"Okay, will someone tell me what the _hell_ happened down there?" Gaz barked.

Dib gave a helpless shrug. "All I saw was White Pakless Irken, Tallest Red, and Zim getting his butt kicked."

Zim punched Dib in the face, causing him to yelp. "I ended up saving YOU, you idiot!"

Dib had his hand on his nose, trying to make the bleeding stop. "You broke my nose!"

"**HEY**!" Gaz screamed. "How about the both of you shut the (_bleep)_ up, and stop acting like children! I swear to God…" She curses under her breath, silencing the boys. No one wanted to agitate her anymore then she is now.

The ship flew in silence and in heavy tension. Gaz opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated as if she was unsure of what to say. "Narr is… dead."

**0o0**

_The bruised impression of three fingers was imprinted on his face. They were slowly being covered in a light layer of tears._

_"Never speak of such blasphemy again!" screamed the attacker._

_A younger Purple nearly choked on himself. "But… I can't help it…"_

_A younger Red frowned. "You can at least hide it. We can work together, but that's it. Now I want you to say it."_

_Trembling, Purple still had the nerve to shake his head in defiance._

_"Damn it Purple, they will execute you! Graduation is a week away. Now say it!" Reds face twisted with strained anger._

_Red watched Purple mouth the words quietly, but was not content. He raised his hand in warning. "Say it louder."_

_Purple tugged at his sleeve, as if his arm was in pain. "Invaders…" He choked, "Invaders need no one."_

_Red lowered his arm. "Good. Now say it again." He commanded in a solemn tone._

_"Invaders need no one."_

_"Invaders need no one."_

_"Invaders need no one."_

_**"Invaders need no one."**_

**"Invaders need no one."**

Red opened his eyes to see he was in a white medical room. His armor was stripped, and was replaced with a white silk uniform that felt much more comfortable. Shutting his eyes, he began to remember the recent events. The fierce battle between Zim and 002, the intruding alien disguised as an Irken, the Vortain battle ship…

Zim was still alive. What more, 002 was 'broken' and was god knows where. Red Lost. The Almighty Tallest Red lost.

But then, it really wasn't over yet.

A medical drone timidly entered the room. "My Tallest, are you feeling better?"

Red nodded, as if he didn't really hear the question. "Just where is 002 right now?" He asked.

The medical drone knew this question was coming. "Sir, the guards… It…" He takes a deep breath. "Sir, no one can find 002. But it makes a killing every few minutes. 002 is still in the area and we've sealed the city limits. It will be a matter of time."

The drone winces, expecting a punishment. But Red just stared the wall. His forehead is wrinkled in thought with eye narrowed in slits. "Interesting... and what happened with Zim?"

"He… He got away."

Red nodded, and slowly stood up. The drone inched towards the door, not wanting to be a scapegoat for the Tallests rage. But he simply nodded uncharacteristically and muttered, "Interesting."

"What is Sir?"

Red smiled in amusement. "A long time ago, when Zim was still delusional about his status, he contacted us from Earth. He said the humans had a book called a Bibble. Or was it Buy Bile… Anyway, it held a prophecy for when the Earth is destroyed. It was all a stupid fantasy, created by the primitive beasts…" He paused and chuckled with unease. "I can't help but to wonder if this is our Armageddon."

The drone looked sheepishly to the side. "I wouldn't know. I am but a short drone."

Red glared at the Irken. "Go and send word to the guards, and tell them to comb the area. I want 002 alive, do you hear me?"

The drone nodded franticly and quickly scurried out the room, leaving Red to his thoughts.

**0o0**

"Jeb? Jeb, I got you some Clubber Chips."

The Irken smiled up at his co worker. He wore an egg shell white uniform, slightly stained with lavender liquid. "Thanks." He muttered, taking the offering. "Night sift is a killer, isn't Flo?"

The female nodded. "They are sleeping. But this new breed of smeets should be hatched in a few days."

The room stretched on for what looked like miles, lit only the light of the on the containers. Inside each one was a small white smeet, waiting to one day walk on the surface of Irk.

Flo straighten her posture. "Well, it's feeding time. Is the nutrients' in the grind?"

Jeb nodded. "Yeah, but we have to let it set for a while. If the chemicals are given to the smeets hot, we will have a big mess to clean up."

Both of their antennas twitched at a rattling from behind. Jeb held up a hand for Flo to stay where she was and went off to investigate.

"This is a restricted area!" He called out. There was no answer, but another rattle of metal. Frowning, he raised his blaster at the source. At the end of the room, there was a control panel and behind that was a large hole, steaming with a foul purple muck.

"I repeat! This is a restricted area!"

He placed a hand on the chair of control desk, and looked over the well. There wasn't anything that looked disturbed. There was any sign of an intruder. "Flo, I think it was just critter." He called out.

He turned to return to her when he heard an ear piercing scream that was neither human or Irken. 002 emerged from the wire works from the ceiling and crashed onto the unsuspecting worker. He reacted too slowly, and was helplessly torn apart. Blood sprayed onto the control panel as 002 began to feed. Claws scrapped out the eyes and innards and shoveled them to the mouth.

Flo screamed in terror, and instinctively ran the other way to the exit. "_No, no, no!"_

002 looked up, face stained with greenish blood and sprang to the walls and rapidly made its way ahead of the female. It knocked over some smeet containers as it scaled across the wall, having them crash onto the floor. Underdeveloped bodies crawled helpless out of the shattered jars, and began to deteriorate on the concrete.

Flo turned the corner sharply, down another isle. 002 nimbly followed by landing on the ground. Claws clacked against the ground, as It gained speed on Flo. The door seemed so close…

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

**Ja, I am ending it like that.**

**(The chapter, not the story)**

**Again, sorry for the wait**

**Have a happy new year!**


	33. Chapter 33

**Wow, I am so glad it is 2008.**

**2007 sucked.**

**Plus, LAST YEAR FOR BUSH!**

**(Cheers)**

**Also, I was a bit busy editing some of the older chapters.**

**Also, I want to give a BIG FAT THANK YOU to all my reviewers!**

**265**

**That number is staggering…**

**faints**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of the original!**

As soon as the small space craft docked back on the Resisty's main ship, Dib wasted no time jumping onto the floor. He seemed to be very flustered, and had trouble talking without shuddering. "Just… Just how did this happen Gaz?"

Gaz got out of the ship, looking a little more then annoyed. "I told you. I don't know. When you left, I went and looked for a ship to follow you. Rex called me, brawling. I couldn't understand a thing he was saying."

"Other then 'Narr is dead'." Zim said, being the last to get out. "Shame that fat cat wasn't on the ship with him. He would have done something…"

"What is this, about a fat cat?"

The trio turned to find Ryuji was standing behind them. Zim coughed slightly, as if he hadn't said anything at all.

Ryuji frowned. "I have to say, I am a bit surprised to see you are still alive Zim."

Zim stiffened. "Unlike some aliens, I am hard to kill." He boasted. "What is this about Narr being dead?" He asked.

Ryuji chuckled. "Rex called you, didn't he?"

Gaz nodded her head. "He seemed really freaked out."

Ryuji patted her head, as if Gaz was a frightened kitten of some sort. That made her growl dangerously, and she slapped the paw off her hair. "Narr isn't dead. But he did give us quite a scare." He said in a reassuring voice. "You all may see him if you like. He is in the same room where Zim was kept."

Dib sighed in relief. He took his sisters hand and began to lead the way. Zim went to follow them when Ryuji took his shoulder. "You will want to come with me."

Dib looked back questionably, but Zim waved his hand at him. "Go on human. I will meet with you later."

The two groups separated. Zim looked up at Ryuji with suspicion. "I was just nearly killed. This better be good." He said in a warning voice.

"It is." Ryuji assured. "The one that attempted to kill Narr keeps asking for you."

Zim raised an invisible eyebrow. "Asking for Zim? Heh, that's odd." He frowned. "I am rather surprised you kept him alive. Who is it?"

Ryuji gave a shrug. It seemed strange for a large cat man to be shrugging, but he did it. "I personally shot him. But I missed the main parts in the Pak. He will give no name."

"He is Irken? And he came alone!" Zims eyes widened in surprise.

Ryuji gave a small nod. "Yes." He point at the door where the accused Irken was kept. "He is in there." The door slid open; inside was a rather short Irken tied belly down on a medical bed. The Pak was brunt beyond repair. The only thing keeping the poor creature alive was the tangled mess of wires and cords extending from the ceiling. Even then, the skin tone was turning a light sickly green.

Zim quickly drew in air in shock, emitting a small sound of surprise. "Skooge?"

**0o0**

Dib rapped the half-opened door to catch Narr's attention. "Can we come in?"

The Vortain looked up from his sheets, and grinned widely. "Of course you can!" He said cheerfully. His bare chest was bandaged with a thick cloth. Other then that, he didn't look like someone whose life was nearly taken.

"You seem awfully chipper." Gaz commented.

"And why wouldn't I be?" Narr asked as the sibling took a seat from across the bed. "I survived, Dib survived, and… Zim is alive, right?"

Dib glared. "Yes." He grumbled. "No thanks to you."

Narr snapped his fingers. "ZIM is alive! And we got 777 back on our team. And most importantly, there is a dying Irken in the next room." Narr sighed in total bliss as he lay back on his pillow. "And pain killers are niiiiiiiiice."

Gaz slapped her palm on her forehead. "So, you are _high?_"

Dib rolled his eyes, holding back a chuckle. "Well, are you… well; sober enough to tell us what happened?"

Narr giggled slightly. "An Irken tried to kill me! But he wasn't strong enough to get me. I am too tough!" And to prove it, Narr pounded his fist against his chest to make a 'thudding' sound. But the action irritated the flesh wounds, causing the goat man to sit back up choking.

Dib groaned. "My god… look, we will come back later." He said, standing up to leave.

"Ah, don't leave! Look, I can start from the beginning." Narr quickly said, gasping for air. "It all started when…

_Rex bumbled into the room. "Narr!" He whined. "The robo toy is eating my food!" Gir was sitting on top of his head, with a expression that read, 'I like pie!', and proof of that was smeared all over his face._

_Narr moan__ed, hating to be interrupted from his navigating. "Rex, can't you just… Hold that thought."_

_There was something off about the upcoming bogey on his screen. Slightly paranoid, he quickly ordered some of his crew members to pick it up to see if it was a ship. As soon as the crew got to the U.F.O, they found that it was indeed a ship that contained a short and chubby Irken._

_You can imagine the dreaded feeling of Dejavu for the Resisty. The last time they picked up an Irken, things didn't go so well._

_The Irken however seemed tired and worn. He __cooperated with the crew and did as he was told. He refused to tell his name, seeming to be ashamed of his self. Within twenty minute's of Skooge being onboard, Narr attempted to contact the Tallest. They did not answer._

_Within thirty minute's of the Irken being onboard, he discovered Gir. He began to harass the crew members, demanding to see Zim._

_Narr was curious about the Irken knowing about Zim, and attempted to calm him down._

_"Listen, Zim isn't on the ship! Calm down or I will be forced to…" Narr was interrupted._

_The Irken waved his hands franticly. "That's a lie! I recognize that Sir unit anywhere, where are you keeping him?"_

_Narr angrily shoved him back. "He WAS on the ship! As in, not anymore!"_

_However, the way Narr worded it, it sounded as if Zim was __executed__ Furious, the Irken lunged at the Vortain. Ryuji rushed into the room, hearing the chaos. He came in, just as the Irken managed to spear Narr though the chest. Ryuji opened fired on the Irken, knocking him off Narr._

_Rex was passing by and saw the end result. Blood, broken PAK parts, a body on the floor; and Ryuji rushing a limp Narr in his arms to the medical rooms._

**0o0**

"So that's what happened." Narr said. "Rex just jumped to conclusions again. Heh, I just said conclusion…"

Both Dib and Gaz failed to see the humor in the word, but didn't ask.

Gaz crossed her arms and grunted. "You know, you guys really suck at holding prisoners."

Narr shrugged. "I suppose…"

Dib covered his face with his hands. "My God…"

Gaz stared at her brother. "What's with you all of a sudden?"

"Gaz," Dib started. "I really don't think I can handle anymore of Zim's _'friends'_."

That made her laugh somehow.


	34. Chapter 34

**Okay, I can't even express how much I feel bad for not updating.**

**The reason, surprisingly, wasn't the usual authors block or laziness.**

**It was failure.**

**I fail at deviant art and was trying to make some great art. Trying to make that 'one stupid comic' that will seal my fame and grant myself comments and favorites for years to come.**

**And the comic I am working on was eating up all my free time so I became inactive in not only Fanfictions, but Gaia and blogs alike.**

**And you know what the ironic part is? I didn't upload much**** new**** art at all.**

**So you know what guys? Screw art fame. I better just keep doing what I am doing.**

**It makes a little more sense that way.**

**My god, I sound like a whiney dummy.**

**(BTW, the comic was Avatar related. And after looking over it, I think it is going to suck anyway.)**

**(EDIT: I totally called it. IT BURNS MY EYES!)**

**So enough of my borderline Emo rant and on with the story!**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of the ****original.**

Dib left Gaz behind to find Zim. She seemed to have fun messing with Narr's head, seeing how the pain killers were making him high. He quickly made a mental note of it, so incase he were ever to get injured again, he would ask for none of that medication. It was better being in pain then acting like an idiot for all to see.

Nearing the room Zim was sent too, he began overhearing a conversation.

_"Dear Irk, so now you are working with an outsider?"_

_"You say that like it's a bad thing Skooge. "_

_"It IS a bad thing! The Tallest will have reason to destroy you!"_

_(Laughter)_

_"What is so funny?"_

_"Not much. It's just that… You've been out of the loop for a long time, a really long time."_

Dib edged closer to the doorway to eavesdrop better.

"Well I couldn't help it Zim! I was hitchhiking from planet to planet like a common hobo. No one recognized me as an Invader due to my height. And those who did… they weren't too friendly."

A slight chuckle was heard. "And then you ended up on the Resisty's ship."

There was an awkward silence. Dib guessed Skooge was staring at Zim strangely because Zim suddenly said in a high pitched voice, _"What!?"_

"You… You aren't going to insult me?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Well no but… Oh. I get it, you were brainwashed."

"_WHAT?!"_

Dib smiled and felt this was a good time to enter. "Hey you guys."

Zim grinned visibly and patted the seat next to him. Dib felt a bit startled by his sudden kind attitude and had to guess it had to do with the chubby Irken on the bed. He sat down and looked at Skooge and winced as if in pain. The Pak didn't have as many wires sticking out of it, but it was still in bad shape. The outer shell had to be removed, reveling all the wires and widgets inside.

Skooge pointed at Dib, in the same manner Zim had back in the good old days. "You poisoned his mind, didn't you?"

Dib scrambled for a defense, but Zim foolishly interrupted him. "No, but he did try to dissect it."

"Zim!" Dib cried in shock.

Skooge stared at Dib and Zim, looking extremely confused and angry. "I don't care how long I have been out of the loop, befriending an outsider is grounds for treason!"

Dib sighed. "That is the least of Zims worries," he explained. "They already tried to kill him with a freakish looking alien thing."

Zim nodded. "Yeah… Project 002. Wait, then that makes me 001!"

"What are you talking about?" Skooge asked. "The Tallest tried to kill you? What did you do this time?"

Zim shrugged. "Well, Red told me I killed Purple. But that impossible since I was in prison at the time…"

"You never told me that!" Dib quickly said, sounding offended.

Zim glared at Dib with a 'are you an idiot' expression. "Sorry, I was a bit busy trying not to die."

Dib grew red with embarrassment. "Oh, right."

Skooge shook his head, "Almighty Purple is _dead? _He was _murdered?_" Slowly, he stared accusingly at Zim.

"I swear I didn't do it this time!" was his bewildered response. "I've been framed!"

Dib folded his fingers together thoughtfully. "Wait, lets think for a second. There is this new breed of Irken. Red knew Zim couldn't have killed his leader since he was in jail. This is just one big cover-up, a conspiracy!"

Skooge huffed at Dib snobbishly. "You're crazy."

"He is telling the truth Skooge." Zim muttered. "I hate to admit it, but there is something big going on here, big enough to change Irken history."

Skooge still seemed suspicious. "None of this makes sense. Last time I saw the Tallest was on a transmission phone on the planet of Quertopia. They were both alive and happy and unwilling to help me out." He sighs heavily and let his head fall on the pillow. "Now one is dead, the other is the center of a conspiracy, and _Zim_ is humbled and thoughtful."

"Don't worry, Zim can still be a pain in the… OW!" Dib rubbed his ribs, where Zim had elbowed him at.

Skooge groaned. "That is it. I died and went to hell."

**0o0**

Several drones rushed across the smeeting room floor, cleaning up every trace of blood and shattered glass. Elite guards stood watch, giving an order once in a while.

One of the drones was stuck with pushing the bodies to the transport voot, where they will be burned to ash.

A guard however made sure one of the bodies was left undisturbed, for observation. He lifted one of the limp arms, and let it fall with a thud. "That 'Irken' didn't eat the whole thing." He muttered, staring coldly at the mangled and torn back. The Pak laid shattered, it was impossible to walk without stepping on a piece.

Another guard shrugged. "It has turned defective. Did you expect the project to sit and eat with a fork, and ask for a doggie bag?"

"That isn't funny."

The guard pointing at the growing pile of white decaying bodies, they were slowly melting into unrecognizable muck. "That _thing_ tore the smeets out of the tubes, and bit off whatever it could before they spoiled. A _third_ of the smeets were killed off Nak!"

Nak pulled himself away from the remains of the dead nurse and stared at the pile. "It's only one Smeeting factory. We have many others, so it isn't like the population is trouble. Come on, we're done here."

The guard glared at Nak in utter disgust, but didn't say a word.

A drone overheard the two, and couldn't resist from asking. "Forgive me. But could the reason be that 002 is looking for something?"

Nak looked down at the drone. "Explain."

The drone began to pull at his shirt like a child would when in a dilemma. "Well, 002 is supposed to be perfect. Now it's broken. So shouldn't the response be to fix itself?"

Nak looked at the other guard for a response, but he was as alarmed as he was. "Perhaps…"

**000**

**And there you go folks. And yeah, I killed Flo. And no, Skooge lives. And no, Nak will not be a main character.**

**Nak: Oh **_**come on!**_


	35. Chapter 35

**Short chapter, but with a reason**

**In another three chapters or four, the story will end**

**And I want to drag it out a little**

**Is that so bad?**

**Also, on a more irritating note, I need to update some other stories that haven't been update for **_**years.**_

**And I need to edit some n00b-ish writing as well.**

**And let me tell you one thing, it is not going to be pretty work**

**(Groans)**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of the original! And I have run out of witty things to say in the disclaimer.**

Skooge sighed and tried to adjust himself to a more comfortable position. He has gotten a little warmed up to the idea of Zim and Dib hanging out with each other as they talked more and more. In fact, Skooge thought that they both deserved each other in a odd way. They were both **insane**.

Zim began to boast to Skooge how _he_ survived the wrath of 002, and how _he_ single handedly saved Dib, and how _he_ defied the PAK programming and told off the Tallest to the point as where Red broke down and started to cry.

Dib and Skooge both knew that he was exaggerating, and at some points of the story were up front lies. Whatever kind and humble phase Zim was going though was over. The jerk was back. But no one said anything, and allowed him to have his moment. He was after all _Zim._

**0o0**

A technician worker rushed up to the Tallest, whom was sitting in communication room. Red wanted to keep posted on the whereabouts on 002, and was doing a horrible job of tracking him. He could come up with great plans, and excelled in areas where others failed as expected of a Tallest. But when it came to finer details and figuring out an opponent's next move, he was as lost as a blind man in a hedge maze. Then there was the matter of making sure this information didn't leak out to the Irken public.

"Tallest Red! A moment of your time, if it is your will." He called out.

Red sneered at him. "I am a little busy, go away!" He turned back to the other workers, and continued to do whatever he was doing before being interrupted.

But the worker wouldn't let up. "Trust me, this will cause you a lot more harm then good if you choose to ignore."

Red wanted sorely to throw the runt out the airlock and be done with this. But he was a high-ranking technician, and they usefully never spoke unless something catastrophic was going to happen. Giving up, he followed the Irken out the room.

"This better be good." He knew it would be, but it was a habit to treat others as if they amounted to nothing.

The worker didn't seem to mind though. "I'll start with the good news. The smeeting factory 002 destroyed should be up and running again in a few months. Nothing critical was damaged. It was a small factory, and it was in one of the poorer lower levels of Irk."

Red nodded, un-amused. "I am aware of that."

The worker looked at his writing tablet for notes, or so Red guessed. "The bad news however… Since you customized the Control Brains to think under your will, the economy is failing. Defectives are going free, and regular citizens are being executed. I could go on, but in a nutshell, unless you restore the Brains to their original programming, Irk will crumble."

Reds expression flashed from horror to rage. "And you dare accuse me?" He asked.

The worker shook his head. "No, it isn't my place to accuse. I simply tell the truth." 

Red raised his hand to strike him, to command the guards to execute him on the spot. Then something stopped him. He thought, '_This won't change a thing._'

The worker watched without reaction as his leader lowered his hand. He took this as a sign to continue. "I do have good news however."

Red looked at the worker, still furious. "Is that so?"

He nodded. "Yes. My Tallest, when the ships were sent after Zim, they got preoccupied with a surprise attack from the Resisty. Needless to say, they were all destroyed."

There was a slight silence.

"But that happens all the time." Red stated.

The worker, for the first time expressed emotion. A sadistic smirk played on his face. "Yes, it does. But never had we salvaged a ship. Never had we used the pilots computers to locate that last docking location."

Red folded his fingers. "I suppose we should attack?" It was a rhetorical question.

The worker replied anyways. "It has already begun."


	36. Chapter 36

**Oh god, I am freaking out.**

**First I quit my job and now a huge math test is coming up. If I fail, I will have to take a 'special' class next year for 'special' people.**

**And I really HATE math.**

**(Freaks out some more)**

**Then I uploaded what I thought was a new chapter for a YuGiOh story. But it was an older chapter and now my readers are VERY confused.**

**So enjoy the chapter.**

**(But the good news is that I am taking an advanced class for English. Hurray for strong points)**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of the original!**

There was a moment of peace in the main Resisty ship. Narr began to sober up a bit, as the medication wore off. And as reality began to set in, his face began to redden as he recalled his actions.

"Did I really say all those things?" Narr asked, sitting up.

Gaz looked up at him and smirked. She sat back in the bedside chair, as if she owned it. "Well, don't feel so bad. You were _so_ relaxed." Narr glared at her.

"Why are you still here?" He asked sharply. "You should have gone with your brother."

She shrugged. "Because, I was bored. I rather listen to the ramblings of a high alien then meet another one of Zim's disturbed friends."

Narr frowned at that and pointed at her like an upset parent. But before he could say a word, a slight rumbling shook the room. At first, everyone was more startled then scared. It was a little like a thunderstorm.

"What was that?" Gaz asked, who was quickly answered by another rumble. This time, it was more violent then the last. The crewmembers ran up and down the hall screaming orders for a counter attack.

Narr barred his teeth, as he forced himself out of the bed. Even with the advanced medication. Vortains, although strong, are known for being slow healers. Gaz stood up as well, in enough time for a crewmember to barge into the room.

"The Irkens!" He cried out, looked completely terrified. "They tracked us down somehow!"

Gaz clenched her fists. "But that's impossible! Ryuji had his fleet, there was a counter attack!"

Narr pushed past her to get out the door. "Obviously, they were over powered."

**0o0**

Zim shot up from his seat, panicking. "The ship is under attack!" He yelled.

Skooge struggled to sit up. "Oh, really? I honestly didn't know with all the commotion and the tremors." He said sarcastically.

"Good, well now you know."

Dib rather not correct Zim by telling him hat Skooge knew exactly was going on, and he was just being sarcastic. But a thought occurred to him. "I have to get Gaz! Zim, you help Skooge." He said, running out the door.

Zim wanted to tell him to not order him around. But the boy was already out the room, leaving himself with Skooge.

He looks bitterly at Skooge. "The Dib means well." There was another explosion. This time, it shook the ship so hard that some of the medical machines in the room knocked over. Screams began to follow. "But…"

Skooge only smiled. "He is barely a smeet." He said. Zim quickly helped Skooge unhook himself from the machines. As former invaders, they knew how an outdated large ship would stand up to the power of the Irken Army. There wasn't going to be any chance for the Resisty to defend themselves. They had everything from a good leader and a good reason to fight back. They just didn't have the resources to win. It takes weapons, not heart to win a war; or at least that's how it's been for the Irkens.

Skooge had his PAK severely damaged, and repairs weren't quite finished. Energy ran out quickly like an ice cube on a hotplate. In order to solve this, Zim did something no Irken has done for hundreds if not thousands of years.

They linked PAK's.

**0o0**

"Gaz! Oh thank god you are okay!" Dib yelled, pushing past the crowd.

Gaz looked up at Dib. "Where the hell is Zim, we have to get out of here." She snapped.

"He is helping Skooge."

"Wait, helping _who_?"

"Never mind!" Dib blurted out, tugging his hair anxiously. "And go _where_? We are sitting ducks and the ships are probably needed for the counter attack!"

Just then Rex bumbled down the hall. He kept knocking down an alien or too, even though he was trying his very hardest not to be in the way. "Humans! Humans, why you not go with the other humans?"

"The other humans were on the second ship Rex." Dib reminded.

Rex thought for a moment, trying to remember what ship he was on again. "Oh, you right. So you go by pod."

"By _what?"_

"Escape pod!" Rex shouted. "They is tiny ships, able to go far, far, far away!"

"That's great news Rex! But wait…" Dib suddenly remembered the transporting pads. "What about the teleport?"

Rex scowled. "Irkens broke the link. Pad is useless now. You can only use Pods now. Little Gir friend was last on pad. Mr. Googlebutt wanted to see him."

Dib wasn't sure what was worse, Gir being in the hands of a mentally unstable scientist or the fact that the teleportation were down. Before he could ask which way the pods were, Rex was already running off. He was most probably going to help defend the ship.

"Gaz, I got to get you to an escape pod." Dib pulled Gaz down the hall, trying to blaring alarms.

"You don't know which way to go!" Gaz snapped.

He looked around him. He noticed the larger and stronger aliens were running one way while the others was hurrying another way.

"This way!" He followed the weaker pack and sure enough, they led him straight towards a large room filled with airlock doors. It was just like the movies expect more _real. _

Dib helps Gaz into a pod that already held five others. It was a little crowded, but this was no time to be picky. Thankfully, Gaz didn't complain.

"Gaz, I am going back for Zim so I'll be right behind you." He quickly said. "You'll be safe here."

Gaz turned to her brother, with a shocked expression. "What the hell are you talking about? Get in here!"

"Don't worry."

She attempted to force him in by pulling on his arm. "There won't be any pods left by the time you find him!"

Dib's expression softens and he places his hand on her arm. "You might be right…"

Gaz looks relieved and she loosens her grip, taking this as a sign of him caving in. But at the last second, he tears from her grip and slams the airlock. Gaz screams at him, but he couldn't hear her.

"But I have to try. I'm sorry."

He presses the eject button and he watched the escape pod disappear from view.


	37. April Fools

This is the last chapter

**This is the last chapter. I wish I had more to say.**

**DISCLAIMER: I pretty much own the whole damn thing now. Thank you Judge Judy.**

An s0 the wh0l3 sh1p w3n7 B00M!!1!one!

An it ki113d 3v3ry 1 0n it.

Expect for Zim and Dib and Skooge, who jumped on a magical burrito and flew to Never Never land and writing with number hurts my head a lot so YEAH!

Red was all like I will distroy ohohtwo wit me own lazer and he did so every one lived happily on irk 'cept 4 red 'cause he is a big poopy head with no life like yay

And pur came in an slapped the hoe(red) and became the new only talle dude person thing xombie

And everyone sang kumbaya together and ate the magical burrito.

The only one qusion remains.

Do you like Mudkip?

Do you like Mudkip?

Do you like Mudkip?

Do you like Mudkip?

Do you like Mudkip?

Do you like Mudkip?

Do you like Mudkip?

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Do you like Mudkip?

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Do you like Mudkip?

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Do you like Mudkip?

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Do you like Mudkip?

Do you like Mudkip?

Do you like Mudkip?

Do you like Mudkip?

**APRIL FOOLS!**

**Sorry, I really am.**

**But who could resist?**

**Anywho, the real last chapter will be coming up within the week.**

**Meh-yup.**

**Mudkips suck.**


	38. Chapter 38

I must say, I was slightly surprised by the turn out of the Reviews

**Haha!**

**Sorry for the joke chapter though.**

**I mean, first, I take forever to update…**

**Then I raise your hopes…**

**Then I smash them into tiny pieces, like that failed helicopter escape plan **_**way**_** earlier in the story.**

**But I must say, writing like an n00b was hard work! Those guys deserve more credit.**

**NOTE: I notice a whole bunch of stories are popping up. A few extremely good ones, such as 'Even the Rain Bleeds' and 'Horten Hears a Dib' and a few… um… Extremely bad ones… I won't name them though. For the love of god people, don't encourage the OC/Main Characters. I want to slice my eyes out…**

**And I must say, over 300 reviews is pretty sweet. That's more then a few popular ZADR fanfictions!**

**I wish I could brag about this to a friend, but she seems to be obsessed with another fandom at the moment. Made me a bit mad when she just up and left. (Especially when she was the main character of several IZ fan RPG's.) Oh well.**

**So everyone? Give yourselves a pat on the back! I couldn't have done this without you all! Enjoy your last chapter, the tales of Zim's and Dib's journey is coming to an epic and earth-shattering end!**

**(Except for the people who just read and never reviewed)**

**And just so you people won't have a heat attack after reading this, here are some spoilers for this chapter!**

**Dib and Zim shall finally hook up and get married!**

**Red shall realize his mad ways and make things right!**

**A mysterious Irken/Human will make an appearance and kill 002!**

**All killed off characters will come back to life, healthy as ever!**

**Earth will welcome Zim and Dib back with open arms!**

**Everyone will live happily ever after.**

_**alltotalandutterlies**_

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of the original!**

The halls began to empty as the red flashing lights and blaring alarms slowed to a soft vain whimper.

The walls creak and moan as if any second they would give in and shatter, leaving everyone inside to the cruel vacuum of space.

Sounds of quickly paced heavy footsteps are heard.

"ZIM!" Dib screamed. His voice was strained with fear and worry. "Zim! Skooge, where are you?" He began to regret his decision. What if they already left? What if he stayed behind for nothing?

But stress nearly left completely at the view of the end of the hall, which was now being filled up with a light layer of smoke. "There you two are…" He breathed.

Zim looked up him expectedly and grinned. "You didn't escape?"

"I thought you two needed a little help." Dib said nattily. He took a closer look at the Irkens and noticed the Pak's. "Um…?"

Skooge glared at Dib. "Will you hurry up? The ship won't last much longer!"

**0o0**

Back on Irk, things weren't getting any better. Since the selected areas have been sealed off, the Irkens were beginning to panic. Some went as far as sealing themselves in their housing unit, and shooting anything and everything that moved. Other placed their complete faith in the Tallest, which was pretty much useless as sweeping a beach clean of sand.

All guards were out on the watch, and soldiers swept though living units and working flats. Every Irken found on the street were quickly interrogated, and most of the time the Irkens had to lie about seeing 002 just to get away with their lives. This just added to the confusion and chaos.

Red, trapped in a special bunker had to make all his orders based off of maps and reports. 002 had targeted a generator plant on a lower level, and had caused a massive black out. No matter what happened, 002 never was even seen by the guards or Irkens. It was like a blind cat chasing after a rat.

"This thing doesn't even have a brain anymore! How is it possible that it keeps escaping?" Red snarled the highly ranked soldier in front of him. The soldier only entered a second before, and hardly was able to adjust to the sudden yelling. He trembled slightly before his Tallest, and slowly handed Red a small box.

Red snatched it from him and examined it closely. It was small, like a perfume box. It was black with no distinctive designs except for three dime sized holes in the side; which was framed with thin lines of gold. "What is this?" Red snapped.

"It was found at the location of the last sighting of 002. The creature… it seems to be _changing._"

Red looked up at him. "Changing?" He repeated in the form of a question.

"Yes. Um… You see my Tallest. I was there. I _saw_ it. 002 saw me too, and honest to Spork, I thought I was going to die!" The soldier sputtered. "But then… Sir, the thing **smiled** at me! With all those ugly teeth and that horrible blood stained face. Oh Irk, I must be a coward, because I didn't even have the nerve to draw out my weapon or even run for that matter. Then, 002 crouched down on its knees and placed this _chip_ on the ground."

Red gripped the box tightly. "002 is regaining the ability to make choices. That mean it's recovering, but why hasn't it returned?" He muttered quietly to himself. Red looks up at the soldier. "This is a chip? But it has to be ancient in order to be this size!"

The soldier shrugged sadly. "I am a little familiar with the history of technology. And it is old. It has to be; because Sporks insignia is on it."

The soldier took a small scan-ray from his PAK and turned it on. Everyone in the room watched with interest as the machine buzzed over the box, making it glow a bright blue. Two letters written in Irken glowed red, as if it were always there. Once the scan was over, the chip returned to its original dull black form.

"We have to go to the control brains." Red said, already standing up. "It's the only way for me to find out what is on this memory chip."

The soldier nodded, and opened the door. "Yes, my Almighty Tallest."

**0o0**

"What do you mean there isn't any left?" Screamed Zim, as he pounded on a small control panel. The small screen nearly snapped in half, but didn't completely cave in. Skooge looked over at Dib, who was franticly trying to see if there was at least one left over by manually running up and down the hall. But each airlock door was empty on the other side.

"Is this the part where we pray, or where we say sappy goodbyes to each other?" Skooge asked, not seeming to be all too affected by the situation. Skooge figured that since this the end of him, there was no point in crying about it.

Dib shot a glare at him. "This is the part where use plan B."

"What's plan B again?" Zim asked.

"…I haven't thought of it yet."

The ship began to rock slowly, side to side. A loud crashing noise is heard coming though the vents. The small creaks and groans Dib heard earlier became screeching and screaming.

"We have to move." Zim grabbed Skooge by the arm and pulled him down the hall. Dib followed close behind, twitching at every noise. A sharp wind pulled against them, making the running all the more harder.

"_The ship is falling apart!"_

Dib felt like he lost his footing, and quickly clung onto an empty doorway. "Zim!" He screamed. The wind pulled harder, if Dib were to let go he would be falling down into the hallway. Suddenly he felt a hand grab him and it pulled him into the room.

Thrown onto the floor, Dib for a moment lost his glasses. "What happened? What was all that?' he asked frantically.

Skooge slammed the door closed. "That…That…" He dropped to his knees, dragging a very unwilling Zim with him.

"Hey!"

"We only have seconds!" The pudgy Irken choked out. "All the air is running out, not that matters much. The ship should implode on itself any moment now."

The rocked violently as the sounds of the ship exploding is heard on the other side. Dib gasped quietly as he noticed a small desk in front of him began to float.

"The gravity is off as well." Zim muttered. Now slightly floating, he looks around the room. "Hey… We are in the waste room!"

Skooge rolled his eyes. "My dream come true: Death in a trash can."

"What are you doing Zim?" Dib asked. He managed to find his glasses, which was floating in front of him. He was clinging onto the wall the best he could so he wouldn't be floating helplessly in the center like Skooge and Zim were.

Zim pointed to the dumpster pod. "There! We go there!"

"You have a very low self-esteem Zim." Skooge muttered.

Zim grabbed Skooge by the shirt and shook him excitedly. "I found our escape you tub of lard! Try to keep up if you want to live!"

The door made an awful noise, as it was going to cave into the pressure of holding back the cruel vacuum of space behind it. Dib panicked and kicked himself off the wall and tumbled in the group. Everyone slammed on the dumpster pod, nearly hard enough to break the connection between Skooge and Zims PAK's.

Skooge seemed upset about this, but Zim was strangely ecstatic about the whole act. Without hast, he typed furiously on the dumpster control pad. The filthy grease stained doors opened, releasing an awful smell as if an unwashed animal walking in it, made waste, puked, and then died in it.

"You don't expect for us to in there, do you?" Dib cried holding his nose.

Zim pushed everyone in, and quickly shut the airlock gates. "Thanks for the push Dib." He laughed. Dib was too busy choking on the fumes to care.

The small fleet of Irkens ships fired their cannons for the final time. The rest of the battered and torn ship was torn into pieces, and the legendary Resisty ship was no more. The force of the explosion helped sling the dumpster pod into space, spiraling out of control.

**0o0**

Red stood silently before the larger humming machine; the chip was tightly clenched in his claw. A guard who stood behind him wondered if the Tallest might break the cube in his grasp. The rest of the solders kept a paranoid eye out for 002.

More then anything, Red wanted to know what was on the chip. But to do that, the Control Brain had to revert back to its old programming. And once the Brains learn that the Tallest himself created such a monster and was planning to replace the entire race with this new breed, which alone could be enough to tear him off the highest seat of power. And the falling society would only push the idea of deactivation into mind.

But Red also knew that things might just get worse anyways. A few Irkens were breaking loose of the main program: Worship the Tallest, Obey the Tallest and above all, do not question the Tallest. Zim was one of the first to break free of this rule, and many are starting to ask questions.

'_If Tallest Red created 002, then why is he having such a hard time controlling it?'_

'_Wait… Wasn't Zim in prison when Purple was murdered?'_

'_Yeah, that old Fob fella came down to the shop earlier. He wouldn't stop yapping about him.'_

'_It doesn't add up!'_

'_The times must have jumbled up.'_

'_Yeah… Some kind of error…'_

A Tallest destroyed by the Control Brain was a fairly better fate then to have a Tallest torn down by the Irken people themselves.

Red scoffed. He definitely did not want Irk to become what Zim would call, _'A-Mare-A-Ka'_ whatever the hell that meant.

And with that in mind, he spoke up. "Control Brain."

The enormous machine whirred to life. There was one control brain one every major

Capital Planet, each one in charge of different duties depending on what was the planets function. But the majority of the Irken population rarely saw Irk's Control Brain. It was the Brain that kept all the other brains in order, including the Tallest. That is, until Red went ahead and reprogrammed it.

He was the first Tallest to do so.

"**Yes, My Tallest?"**

Red swallowed. "Re-enter recent reprogramming upgrades Alfa-A-3-6."

The brains hummed again.** "Files Accessed."**

"Delete them and replace Alfa-A-3-6 with the recently isolated files AI-Semantics." Tallest Red commanded.

The room rumbled slightly as the wires glow a hot red. The entire system was realigning itself with the old program, the only program that seemed to work flawlessly for the past millennia. And as the Control Brains slowly regained their memories and intelligence, they began to snake their cords towards Reds Pak.

"**Old Program is running…"**

Red let out a breath of relief.

"…_**Just as it should have been doing!"**_

The cord wrapped itself around Red's waist angrily, and latched onto his Pak. He cried out for help, but the guards wisely backed away from their doomed leader. Red's life was in the hands of the Brains now.

"**Tallest Red, you have single handedly shamed the very pride of Irk. You have broken nearly every covenant, including three of the most sacred of laws. You dare attempted to change the very face of the Irken. You allowed Irk to rot slowly from the inside out."**

Red shook his head back and forth, as if to deny these charges. "I was doing it for the good of Irk! I was trying to advance the species, destroy the weakness of the body."

The cords latches tightly into the Pak, and the information and memories rolled into the Brains. The glowing eyes of the brains seem to glare down at Red accusingly. Out of fear, he dropped the block onto the floor, making it seemingly useless.

"**Tallest Red, your Pak is determined **_**defective.**_**"**

Throughout the entire lower level, a bloodcurdling scream is heard.

Then, nothing…

Silence.

**0o0**

It was completely dark when Dib woke up. There was a brief moment where he couldn't remember where he was, who he was with or even who _he_ was. He clawed at the filthy floor and cried out in pain. The explosion knocked everyone around in the small dumpster pod, hitting the walls and floor.

"Z-Zim." Dib reached out to feel a body, and found an arm. He shook it. "Zim." He whispered weakly.

The body moved slightly. "Dib-Stink."

A smile broke out on Dibs face as tears streamed down. "Well, your plan worked."

He felt the arm pull away suddenly. "No, it didn't."

The room stayed silent for a moment. Dib felt his mind drifting in and out of reality, as the smell worsened. "Someone will find us…"

Zim spat. "Everyone thinks we are dead Dib. I saved us from the other Irkens but…"

Dib slowly went limp, and laid down next to Zim. The room felt so stale, it was getting harder to breath. He suddenly realized something wet was trickling down his face. He didn't check what it was though.

"Someone will find us."

"We are in a dumpster pod, in, literally, the middle of nowhere Dib."

Dib felt his eyelids close. Sleep sounded pretty good right about now.

Zim spoke on with a broken voice. "We are running out of oxygen Dib. Dumpster pods were never meant for the living. We are a floating tin can."

"Someone will find us…"

"No Dib, no one will."

"_Please…" _He pleaded silently.Dib was unconscious now. Zim reached out and softly took his shoulder. It was so dark, but he could tell the boy was losing blood. Zim closed his eyes as well, and laughed softly.

"There is no such thing as a happy ending." He whispered.

_And we slowly drove away_

_Leaving behind all else_

_Life is not like the fairy tales_

_Nor is full of woe_

_We rode away for the inevitable_

_Drift away and disappear_

_._

_._

_._

_._

**Well, that's the end I guess.**

**The poem is by me.**

**I got other things on my plate.**

**I might make a sequel.**

**But then…**

**Maybe not…**

**Please review.**

…

**Wow, I think this is the first time I ended a real story.**

**Heh.**

**Okay then, take care!**


	39. END NOTES

End Notes

**End Notes**

**Okay, okay okay!**

**I hear you people loud and clear.**

**I was going to be all 'vague' about it, but wow!**

**There will be a sequel.**

**That is 100 percent for sure.**

**Come on people, you know me better then to leave an unfilled pothole!**

**That's why there are unanswered questions; they basically help build up the other half of the story.**

**So yeah, cut me a little slack, okay?**

**It's not like I **_**always**_** kill the main characters.**

**Dib: Yes! You **_**always**_** do!**

**Me: HEY! How did you get out of your cage?**

**Anyways… This means that Zim and Dib both live. I only made it like they did bite the big cheese.**

**(If I were really to kill them off, I would have just let them go 'boom' with the rest of the ship.)**

**If you are still paranoid about the ending, and think I have forgotten about some key plot (Or if you just want to suggest to add something in the sequel) just tell me in a review.**

…

**Will this be enough for the angry mob to lower their weapons?**

**(Insert awkward cough)**

**End of End Notes**


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